The Price Chapel Podcast

In John 10 Jesus says, "I Am the Gate" using the metaphor of a sheep pen which provides safety and security to the flock, enabling the shepherd to care for his sheep to describe how we find life and faith within the shelter only he can provide. Our problem is that there are forces at work in our world that put us at risk of life being stolen from us, not just our mortal lives, but a fulfilling life. We can experience this life only through Jesus because he is the gate through which we find it.

Jesus makes the statement, "I Am the Light of the World" in John Chapter 8 in the middle of an identity crisis. Not his own identity crisis, but one that his audience is working through. His audience was the festival goers and the religious leaders in the Temple courts in Jerusalem. And they think they know who Jesus is and where he's from, but Jesus begins to reveal his true identity, challenging what they know, and his audience is divided on whether to believe him. Their hearts were hard and they are blind to the light standing in front of them. We suffer similar blindspots in our lives when we are so certain, that Jesus cannot challenge, hone, and shape our hearts and our lives.

Jesus says "I Am the bread of life" in John 6:35. This statement is uttered right after the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. This "I Am" statement is the first of its kind. Jesus says this because the people are looking for another miracle handout. The crowd wants more food, but they missed the point of the miracle. It was an illustration, a sign, symbolizing the sustenance we have in relationship with God. We often carry the same expectation as the crowd, "Jesus give me what I want." But Jesus is in the business of giving us what we need; namely, relationship with himself.

The Gospel of John is an intricate theological work. The author weaves the Biblical theme of seven into the story of Jesus' life and ministry in ways that give us clues for who Jesus is and what his ministry does for us. This series dives into the seven "I Am" statements of Jesus and the seven signs/miracles that accompany them.

The last message in our series on Price Chapel's core values, we dive into our value for Sending People Locally, Regionally, and Globally to share the good news of Jesus with all people everywhere. Here we look at the five healthy traits of a sending church and unpack how we can join God on mission in our world.

One of the best leadership hand offs from one generation to the next in all of scripture occurs between the Prophet Elijah and his eventual successor Elisha. Elijah mentors and models what it means to be effective as a prophet of God for the Jewish people. As we consider how we invest in the next generation these two have some important lessons for us to learn.

Continuing in our series on Price Chapel Core Values we tackle our value for Biblical Teaching and Preaching. In his first and second letters to Timothy, the Apostle Paul instructs his young mentee on how to properly handle the word of God. Today we can draw 6 lessons for the Church: 1) we should devote ourselves to the public reading of the Bible; 2) we should devote ourselves to the practice of preaching and teaching; 3) we should learn how to correctly handle the Word of Truth; 4) Remember that scripture is God-breathed; 5) Use scripture for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness; & 5) Always be prepared to preach the Word.

We have five core values at Price Chapel: Biblical Teaching & Preaching; Worshipping God, Fellowship as Family, Investing in the Next Generation, and Sending People Locally, Regionally & Globally. Today we dive into our value of Worshipping God. Paul and Silas in Act 16 give us a perfect picture of the way worship shapes our lives from obedience to prayer to praise to service. Their worship while in chains changes lives. Ours can too.

The Apostle Paul finds himself in a sticky situation. What is he to do with a runaway slave? But not just any runaway, it's the slave of a friend, a christian, and a leader in a church he planted. Sometimes we find ourselves in sticky situations. Paul navigates his predicament with wisdom and discernment through shrewd application of the core of the gospel message; reconciliation. The problem that we face is the temptation to oversimplify complex situations; boiling them down to quick and dirty solutions. Paul shows us how Godly wisdom leads to tactful discernment. And this tactful discernment can help us navigate any tricky predicament we find ourselves in.

The book of Philemon is one of the smallest in the Bible yet it gives us some of the most powerful insights into how the gospel reshapes how we live in this world. Philemon was a wealthy slave owner, and church leader in the first century whose slave ran away and encounters the Apostle Paul. The book is a personal letter to Philemon advocating on behalf of this runaway slave. It poses some complicated questions about slavery, the Image of God, and how we treat fellow believers from different backgrounds.

There's a difference between Freedom and Liberty. The Biblical word for freedom is more closely associated with our modern understanding of Liberty. As we celebrate the 4th of July and 250 years since the birth of America, we explore how the Spirit of God frees us to see and reflect God's glory making us more like Jesus.

Jesus has set us free from so many things, yet we fail to live in that freedom. Christ has set us free from condemnation for our sin, from earning God's favor, from religious performance. When we resist the freedom that has been bought for us, we stop "running the race" of faith, foul attitudes grow, and religious performance takes the place of earnest worship. We have the choice to run into the freedom of Christ or stumble back into slavery to sin, self, and the world.

King David's father, Jesse, shaped David's life in important and impactful ways, as father's do. What lessons can we draw from the example that Jesse sets for fathers in parenting?

David is an International Worker with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. This Sunday's interview with Pastor Alex shares about his calling and journey to heading to Taiwan this June. He'll be working through an Alliance church to teach conversational English and share the gospel through relationship. Plus, he's takes a shot at bald and balding pastors ;) and answers some rapid fire questions about life, pop culture and Taiwan. Don't miss it.

Micah was a prophet of God, the same God that his audience worshipped. Yet there was a difference between how these two groups practiced their faith. Just as Micah's audience, we ought to be careful not to worship a god made from our own imagination, but instead worship God as revealed in scripture. The God of Micah is the God of Light, who is a Shepherd, who is Forgiving, Merciful, and Faithful. The God we worship will be evident by the fruit of our lives. What is your god like?

The history of the work of the Christian church in America is complex. It is both filled with incredible stories of reform, as well as fraught with the negligence of the physical needs of the vulnerable. The problem exists when we don't balance the justice, mercy, and humility in the ways we live our faith. Micah's prophetic words call the justified (God's people) to do justice.

The real consequence of humankind's sin was separation from the presence of God. Guest speaker, Pastor Jared Huntsinger, deep dives into the Bible's picture of God's presence and the movement of God through Biblical history. Unfolding how we experience God's presence today.

Prophets played an important role in the kingdoms of Israel. Their responsibility was to relay God's word to the leaders and people. Often this looked like calling out the ways in which the people had strayed from following God's direction. Micah's words were often unpalatable for this reason. Political leaders didn't like him, but when they did listen, as King Hezekiah did it resulted in blessing. Our problem is when success and power go unchecked, we begin to use people instead of serve them. God used crisis in Hezekiah's life to expose his pride and invite him to repent before impending judgement. Our response should be to invite truth, examine our pride, and respond quickly with humility to the Spirit's conviction.

Micah is an important minor prophet that lived during the collapse of Israel's short-lived dynasties. His prophetic words called government leaders to righteous action in the midst of rampant corruption that had plagued the people of Israel. Corruption had infected national worship, economics, and was even among Micah's peers, the prophets who "spoke for God." Yet in the midst of the great evil that had plagued the land, there was hope. When corruption spreads, God sees, God judges, and god preserves His people.

This is Annual Family Meeting Sunday. We look back at what God has done through Price Chapel over the last year and look forward to plans for the coming year. And in a short devotional thought we look at 3 lessons from the book of 2 Timothy.

When grief feels final and hope smells like decay, what happens when Resurrection itself walks into the cemetery? In the Gospel of John, chapter 11, Jesus delays, weeps, and then calls a dead man out of the grave—exposing the gap between what we say we believe and what we actually trust Him for. This story confronts the quiet places we keep sealed off—the parts of our lives that “stink” of sin and shame—and asks: what stones are we afraid to roll away? Because the voice that raised Lazarus is still calling today. And the One who raises the dead isn't just offering life someday—He's inviting you to step out of your grave clothes right now.

This Palm Sunday, we explored Hebrews 4:14-16 and the reality that Jesus also experienced temptation in every way we do. Instead of taking the easy way out, He rejected the shortcuts offered by the devil and chose a different path. Rather than grasping for power, Jesus responded with patience and obedience. He embraced the cross and invites us to do the same. In God's kingdom, we don't win by winning-we win by losing.

Fasting is the primary and historic practice of the season of Lent. The practice of fasting can introduce significant discomfort to our lives, but the fruit of fasting builds our faith. Our faith is built by saying no to ourselves; by replacing our will with God's; and by increasing our hunger for God.

Prayer is an integral practice in our spiritual lives. It is the primary pathway for humans to connect with God. We believe that the Bible speaks of a God who is real, who is personal, and who is relational. One who invites us into communion with Him. Communion with God through prayer means turning our attention toward His presence with us. Jesus models how we should approach God in prayer through the Lord's Prayer instructing us to pray with honesty, simplicity, and humility. As we do, we trust God that he will meet us in prayer by hearing our hearts. Through prayer and trust, hope and love grow within us.

What can separate us from the love of God? Nothing. Why does God have our back in this way? Because he's invested; he died for us, he justifies us, he was raised from the grave for us, and because Jesus loves us. And what makes us doubt His love? Paul implicates the source of this doubt; trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword. Nothing can separate us from the God who is for us.

Our All-Knowing God is working out all things for our good. This idea is profoundly present throughout scripture, particularly today's verses in Romans 8. Yet, this idea sometimes doesn't sit squarely with our experiences. When the Apostle Paul pens these words about God's handiwork he meant something deeply grounded in the character of God that we must understand. God is at work, but we have a propensity to resist it, sometimes without awareness. How, then, should we understand God's sovereignty and providence so that we participate in building the Kingdom of God, rather than hindering it.

International Workers, David & Aleah Nishizaki share the stories of what God is up to in the deaf world. David and Aleah are concluding an almost 9 year season of ministry among the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Washington D.C. advocating, empowering and raising up leaders in the deaf church to share the gospel locally and around the world. This next season of ministry puts them on a trajectory of continuing to glorify God with all of who they are as the move to Japan. God has been stirring a passion and a hope to share Jesus as they move to Tokyo and build relationships with both the deaf and hearing communities.

Prayer, communing with God, is a core aspect of Christian faith. In Romans 8, Paul outlines 4 truths about prayer that we need to be aware of as we approach God. First, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Second, the Spirit helps us when we don't know how to pray. Third, the Spirit intercedes through wordless groans. And fourth, the Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with the will of God.

Earthquakes and natural disasters are reminders that everything in creation is not as it should be. Romans 8 identifies these experiences as the groaning of created order as in the pains of child birth. Paul highlights 3 truths regarding creation: creation is frustrated; creation will be liberated; and creation looks to humanity.

There's a popular belief that everyone is a child of God. Yet, the Bible does not teach that we are the biological product of a Heavenly Father or Mother. These ideas come from extra-Biblical sources. Though we are made in God's image, according to the Genesis story, we are born into a kingdom of darkness and are therefore enemies of God. In the midst of this state, God's love meets us where we are and he adopts us into his family. This adoption sets us free and gives us new rights as children of God.

God cares for our bodies and wants to bring life to them. Paul, the author of Romans 8, contrasts the realm of the flesh with the realm of the flesh. The believer lives by the realm of the spirit. Living according to the flesh leads to death. Life according to the spirit brings resurrection power and the promise of healing. So, the believer puts into practice the ongoing work of putting our sin to death by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within.

Your mindset will impact your mental health positively or negatively. Paul uncovers the mindset Christians have access to. Our mindset expresses our basic nature as Christians or Non-Christians. Our mindset has eternal consequences. Our mindset concerns our fundamental attitude toward God. Jesus provides a pathway for the Spirit of God to renew our minds, transforming how we think and engage with the world.

Paul writes a pivotal letter to the church in Rome. This book called Romans, contains the most central doctrines of the Christian faith. In Chapter 8 Paul unpacks how the gospel message offers us an opportunity to truly become alive in Christ. We struggle with sin and yearn to be set free. But it is only the power of Jesus on the cross that could break the power of sin and death and set us free.

When someone "Brings the Receipts" they are bringing the proof that they were right, their prediction was correct; and God brought the receipts in the birth of Jesus. "The Purpose Receipt" is about God declaring the purpose of the coming Messiah centuries before Jesus even walked the earth. These prophecies explicitly tell of Jesus purpose to bring salvation from the earthly and eternal consequences of sin.

When someone "Brings the Receipts" they are bringing the proof that they were right, their prediction was correct; and God brought the receipts in the birth of Jesus. The "Place Receipt" is about God's plans superseding our own plans. The biblical characters Ruth, Samuel, and Joseph all had their own plans for how life was supposed to go, but God disrupted them all in the little town of Bethlehem. Through each of their stories, God was weaving the beautiful tapestry of His sovereignty ultimately bringing about the moment Jesus comes to earth.

When someone "Brings the Receipts" it's a nod to the originally predicted outcome of a situation. In this sense, Jesus' birth fulfilled many of God's Old Testament receipts. This Advent season we'll be exploring the prophecies that foretold Jesus' coming and birth. The very first receipt found in scripture goes all the way back to the beginning in Genesis chapter 3 when God is issuing the curse to the serpent after Adam and Eve's fall. What he promises here is conflict, confrontation and conquest to come, fulfilled in the life and death of Jesus and the founding of His Church.

Why do Christians use the Bible as an authority in our lives? The Bible is a credible source of authority because of its historical and textual reliability in addition to the reliability of God's promises and the unity and cohesion of the story it tells over 1000+ years. Alone, these should be reasons enough for it's place in our lives, but even more it are the claims that that Bible makes about itself from the psalmists to the authors of the New Testament letters and even Jesus himself. God's word, should have a say in how we live our lives.

Self control is the ability to control one's emotions, desires and actions. The Holy Spirit is the source and decisive cause of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. So, when our desires and actions are out of control we need Spirit-empowered self-control. Jesus endured the temptation of Satan through this Spirit-empowered self-control at the beginning of his ministry; paralleling the temptations of the Israelites through the desert in Exodus. Just as for the Israelite, Jesus' obedience stands in place for our disobedience. Success in our battle with temptation requires Spirit-empowered self-control.

Body Life Sunday is when we celebrate the stories of what God is doing in and through Price Chapel. On Body Life Sunday we welcome New Members, Dedicate Children, and Celebrate Baptisms. All are best experienced in person or by viewing our Sunday Live Stream which is available during our 11AM service or afterward at pricechapel.org or on our YouTube or Facebook Pages.

Jesus displays the fruit of gentleness through his healing touch and actions of serving his disciples. Following in Jesus' example is challenging because of the pride and selfishness we carry within, obstructing our ability to truly be gentle. But, Holy Spirit empowered gentleness demonstrates soothing restraint for the good of others and the glory of God.

God's faithfulness to humanity is astounding; filled with love and compassion. This kind of faithfulness is desperately needed in our world today. The word translated as "faithfulness" Galatians 5 contains two key components: trust and obedience. When it comes to our own faithfulness our trust often fades before obedience takes root; but, this is where God intervenes. For, what we cannot do on our own, the Spirit of God works within us. This kind of faithfulness is the Sprit-grown endurance to keep trusting God enough to follow in obedience.

Goodness is something we long for in this world. We see evil in the world all around us and it can cause us to doubt whether God is, indeed, good. When we understand the reasons for suffering in our world we can more clearly see God's goodness at work. Scripture calls us to be children of the light and as children of the light we will display the goodness of God.

Continuing in our series on the Fruit of the Spirit we examine the trait of kindness. The difficulty we experience with this trait is that we struggle to show kindness when we are looking out for our own interests. Selfishness reveals itself as the enemy of kindness. Jesus demonstrates kindness in the story of the woman caught in adultery. Here we see Jesus pause, invite, ask perceptive questions and instruct his audience in the way of kindness and righteousness. We can demonstrate the kindness of Jesus when we're secure in God's kindness to us.

The fourth fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 is Patience. However this is not the patience that immediately comes to mind when we think about waiting in line. There are at least 4 greek words that are used in scripture that are translated into English as patience. The word used in this list carries a related meaning, but also includes restraint in when provoked or wronged. As we look at the story of Jesus we can see this trait at work throughout his life, most poignantly on the cross. As we follow in Jesus' example and walk in step with the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, Christians must respond to being wronged with this kind of patience.

Peace is something that we long for in our world and in our lives. The Biblical concept of peace reaches far into our lives seeking a sense of wholeness and completeness. Inherent is a sense of confidence and rest in God's presence and control. Peace is a gift of God to his followers and can be experienced through engaging with Him. The steps to deep, abiding peace are: praying continually, entrusting life & circumstances to God, abiding communion with Jesus, cultivating a heart of gratitude, and extending forgiveness to others.

We spend our lives searching for joy. It is something we long for, but we end up settling for the temporary imitation of happiness. The difference is that joy is more than an emotion. Happiness is temporary and is based on fleeting circumstances. Joy is a quality of being. The depth of God's gift of joy is found when we remain in Jesus' love, follow his commands in obedience, when we rejoice in His saving grace, and when we live into our purpose.

Paul uses fruit a the illustration for the character traits of God that He grows in our hearts through the power of the Spirit making us more like Him. He lists these fruit as: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Jesus demonstrates these perfectly as God in flesh. This series dives into how God develops these character traits in our lives and how Jesus exemplifies them perfectly.

Proverbs has much to say about wisdom in finance. Here, generosity takes center stage as a high spiritual value. Proverbs 11:24-24 gives us the insight that “a generous person will prosper.” There is something about the way that wealth reveals the true nature of our heart. We can learn from Proverbs how to become a person of generosity by practicing these 3 principles of generosity.

The story of King Uzziah becomes a cautionary tale for the role of pride in our lives. Proverbs has little good to say about pride. Uzziah found favor in God's eyes because of his dedication to the Lord, but eventually pride crept in and Uzziah crossed the line thinking too highly of himself. The antidote to this pride is humility which can be cultivated in surrender to Jesus.

Wisdom calls to us to work diligently and points to the ant as our example. The book of Proverbs and even the New Testament speak to the value of hard work and the rewards that it brings. The sluggard finds himself in a cycle of laziness which leads to a feeling of a lack of significance. And so scripture exhorts us to live lives as if we were working for Jesus in all things.