The Word Unleashed

While popular culture has long been fascinated with fictional stories of exorcisms and the supernatural, Mark presents a historical and absolute display of Christ's divine authority over a real, screaming unclean spirit. Do you live in fear of the spiritual darkness in this world, or do you rest in the absolute reality that Jesus Christ holds total, uncontested mastery over the enemy of your soul?

Unlike the religious teachers of His day, who relied on human tradition and the quoted opinions of dead rabbis, Jesus spoke directly from His own authority as the Living Word. Pastor Tom explains why Jesus' message still carries absolute authority today and what this truth means for every Christian.

The Gospel accounts, including Mark, show that Jesus' teaching and His miracles testify to who He truly is: The Son of God. So by studying Jesus' life, we see not only the content of His message but also the authority of His message. This helps us recognize that He is the ultimate authority—and His words and works demand a response.

As Christians, we often rejoice in God's grace, but do we truly grasp its profound depth? Scripture teaches that before salvation, we stood under God's wrath, deserving judgment along with the rest of humanity. Yet through Christ, God has lavished upon us immeasurable mercy—not because we earned it, but because of His sovereign grace.

It's necessary to understand that God's plan of redemption is ultimately about displaying His glory because it corrects a deeply ingrained human misconception: that everything exists for us. But Scripture presents the opposite—everything exists for God.

From the Old Testament prophets to the New Testament apostles, the message remains the same: true repentance refuses to continue in what we know is wrong and instead chooses obedience to God's truth.

Pastor Tom explains that true repentance is never superficial or lighthearted; it requires a genuine, brokenhearted sorrow over how our pride and conflicts have grieved a holy God.

Pastor Tom helps us realize that our external conflicts are merely symptoms of a deeper, spiritual division within ourselves. To get the gospel right and find true peace, we must allow the Holy Spirit to purify our innermost thoughts, motives, and loyalties.

True relational peace requires that we first wash our hands and purify our hearts from double-minded loyalties. Are you trying to enjoy closeness with God while still harboring compromised desires and unresolved bitterness in your heart?

Today on the program, we return to one of the most hope-filled verses in the book of James, which says that God “gives a greater grace.” This verse is a reminder that while God demands wholehearted allegiance, He also provides the mercy and strength we desperately need to obey Him.

Tom explains that while our sin and pride are deep, God's restoring grace is deeper still, provided we abandon our self-reliance and meet Him on the terms of biblical humility.

Tom Pennington explains God's jealous love for His people and how His grace draws us back from divided loyalties. Does it startle you to realize that your personal conflicts and worldly compromises are viewed by God as an act of spiritual unfaithfulness?

Tom continues to demonstrate how the Bible uncovers the precise path from conflict to reconciliation through the wisdom of God's Word. Are you still trying to resolve your relational disputes by managing external circumstances, or are you ready to submit to the heart-transforming wisdom of Scripture?

Tom explores why our prayers often go unanswered when driven by selfish motives and how God calls us away from chasing empty pleasures toward the only true source of satisfaction: God Himself.

Pastor Tom helps us discover how these restless desires spill over into our relationships, producing division—and why true peace can only be found when our deepest satisfaction is rooted in God Himself. Are you looking to the shifting pleasures of this world to satisfy your soul, or are you seeking the true peace that comes only from absolute contentment in God?

Today, Pastor Tom helps us understand that true peace begins not by changing others but by humbly confronting the conflict within ourselves. Friend, when you are caught in an argument, are you more consumed with winning the point, or are you ready to face the selfish passions ruling your own soul?

The Bible must be our authority on conflict because human history itself is a staggering testimony to what happens when we rely on our own wisdom. But what makes Scripture indispensable is that not only is it God' s Word but it also refuses to let us deal only with the surface of conflict and moves straight to the source—the sinful cravings and self-centered desires within our own hearts that wage war against our souls.

Jesus warns against the subtle but dangerous pull of hypocrisy, where giving becomes a performance for others or even a quiet source of self-congratulation. Instead, Christ calls us as His followers to a radically different approach: to give quietly, selflessly, and even forgetfully, seeking not human praise or personal pride, but the approval and glory of God alone.

Today, Pastor Tom addresses the sobering reality of the "reward" that hypocrites receive. Jesus makes it clear that if we seek the praise of men, we have received our reward in full, leaving nothing to be received from our Father who is in heaven.

Rather than prescribing a fixed percentage, Scripture calls for giving that is thoughtful, joyful, and proportionate to God's provision—primarily supporting the mission of the church, the spread of the gospel, and the needs of others.

Faithful financial stewardship and generous giving are not optional for the Christian life—they are clear, repeated commands of Scripture directed to every believer without exception.

Today, we explore how this was perfectly demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ. From feeding the hungry crowds to welcoming the hospitality of others, Jesus modeled a lifestyle of generous care—reminding us that far from being optional, this virtue reflects a heart tethered to Christ's church and lived for His glory. As a follower of Christ, are you actively pursuing growth in this virtue?

Hospitality is not optional for believers; it is explicitly commanded in Romans 12, Hebrews 13, and 1 Peter 4 and is even listed as a qualification for elders. So, if we want to reflect the heart of our God, resist the individualistic nature of our culture, and build the kind of genuine Christian community in the local church that the New Testament calls us to, we must recover and pursue the virtue of hospitality.

How can a holy God continue to show mercy without compromising His justice? The answer is the death of Jesus Christ. At the cross, God vindicated His righteousness by fully executing His judgment against sin in His Son, so that He could remain perfectly just while justifying sinners who believe.

Pastor Tom explains that our justification before God is entirely His work: planned in eternity, received by faith alone, given by grace alone, and accomplished through Christ alone. And at the very center of this great plan is the cross, where God publicly displayed His Son as a propitiation—meaning the full satisfaction and turning away of divine wrath.

In Romans chapter 3, the apostle Paul explains that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was not humanity's idea, but God's. Scripture reveals that it is the Triune God who is responsible for salvation: God the Father decreed salvation, God the Son accomplished salvation, and the Holy Spirit applied salvation.

Today, Pastor Tom Pennington explains that just as the Old Testament sacrificial system is portrayed through countless offerings, the only way for sinful people to approach a holy God is through a substitute who bears their guilt.

At the very heart of the Christian faith lies a truth that shapes every believer's daily life: justification. In Romans 3, the apostle Paul teaches that while our justification is a free gift of grace, it came at an immeasurable cost—the life and death of Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the heart of Paul's letter to the Romans, we come to one of the most powerful truths of the Christian faith: how guilty sinners can be declared righteous by a just God. Like a rescue of the spiritually dead rather than merely the struggling, salvation is wholly God's work from beginning to end.

Pastor Tom helps us understand one of the most well-known and sobering verses in all of Scripture—Romans 3:23—where the apostle Paul delivers God's universal verdict on humanity: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

After proving that every person stands guilty before God, the apostle Paul introduces a stunning reality: that righteousness from God is not earned by human effort or merit but given as a gift through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

Pastor Tom addresses the great question of the Gospel: Justification. We'll see how God can remain perfectly just while declaring guilty sinners righteous—a mystery solved only at the cross. What about you, friend? Does it humble you to realize that God's justice was satisfied, not by your penance, but by the work of Christ in your place?

Today, we discover from Scripture that salvation by faith alone has always been God's plan, as witnessed throughout the Old and New Testaments. With one voice, the Bible declares that salvation was accomplished not by our works but solely by the person and work of Jesus Christ. It's that truth of the gospel message that helps us understand that we cannot produce a righteousness of our own but must solely rely on Christ's.

Today, we look at the means by which this righteousness is received. We'll see that faith is not a "work" we perform but the empty hand that reaches out to receive the gift that God has provided in Jesus. Friend, when you look to your own heart, do you see a reason for God's favor, or do you see only the need for a righteousness that must come from outside of yourself?

Understanding that our righteousness is entirely Christ's and not our own is essential because it determines whether we have a true and lasting standing before God at all. Paul makes clear in Romans 3 that by our own law-keeping and moral effort, "no flesh will be justified in His sight.

Now that we understand what the Bible teaches about depravity, how do we as Christians practically respond? And how do we continue to guard against our own patterns of sin and leading others into temptation to sin? Today, Pastor Tom Pennington explains these realities and more and helps us see clearly our desperate need for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Tom discusses the danger of ""moralism""—the attempt to fix our external behavior while leaving internal corruption untouched. We'll see why a ""good life"" without a new heart is still a life under condemnation. Are you trusting in moral improvements to save you, or have you come to the end of yourself and cast your hope entirely on Jesus Christ?

According to the Bible, no human being, no matter how sincere or religiously motivated, has the natural capacity to come to Christ, obey God's law, please God, or even embrace spiritual truth apart. Only a sovereign act of Almighty God can deal with this problem. From John 6:44, Pastor Tom explains this sovereign act of divine grace and compels us as believers to live in light of the gospel—knowing what we have been saved from and knowing whom we have been saved for.

Pastor Tom tackles the common objection: ""But don't I have a free will?"" We'll see that while we choose according to our desires, because our nature is corrupted, our desires are naturally enslaved to sin. Friend, is your ""freedom"" leading you toward Christ, or is it merely the freedom to follow a heart that is naturally at enmity with God?

Tom gives a devastating verdict in that the doctrine of total depravity is the only soil in which true humility can grow. When we realize there is nothing good in us to merit God's favor, our pride is crushed and we are finally positioned to worship Him rightly. Is your worship fueled by a sense of your own worth or by a deep gratitude for a grace you could never deserve?

Tom Pennington explores the judicial reality of our condition. We aren't just ""broken"" people; we are guilty transgressors who stand condemned before a holy and righteous Judge. When you stand before the mirror of God's Law, do you see a person who is ""mostly good,"" or do you see a sinner whose only hope is the mercy of the Judge?

Pastor Tom addresses the devastating consequence of this reality: spiritual inability. Because we are ""bad to the bone,"" we are completely incapable of understanding the things of God or coming to Him for salvation on our own. Friend, does it humble you to realize that you didn't ""find"" God, but that He had to give you life while you were still dead in your sins?

Pastor Tom helps us understand the ""total"" in total depravity. We'll see that sin hasn't just touched a few areas of our lives but has permeated our minds, our wills, and our emotions, leaving no part of our being untouched. As you examine your life, can you see how sin has influenced even your ""best"" intentions?

On today's program, we look at the origin of our condition. We'll see how the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden didn't just affect them but resulted in a corrupted nature passed to every descendant—leaving us not just ""sick"" but spiritually dead in our trespasses. Do you realize that your struggle with sin is the outward expression of a nature that has been ""bad to the bone"" since the Fall?

Understanding our depravity in light of the fall in Genesis 3 is essential because it reveals the magnitude of what sin has done to us. Sin is not simply a series of bad choices but a fundamental or radical corruption of our entire nature as human beings. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, every aspect of the image of God in man was marred: our minds were darkened, our emotions became disordered, our relationships fractured, and our moral compass was bent toward self rather than God.

From Philippians 2:13, Tom considers several features of God's role in our transformation. If you've been discouraged by your lack of progress, or if you've been carrying the weight of sanctification on your own shoulders, today's message is an invitation to rest in the most powerful partnership imaginable.

Today, Pastor Tom explores why these verses aren't contradictory but complementary. And after examining our role in the process of sanctification over the past several broadcasts, today we discover what God actually does to make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ.

Today's message delivers the practical heart of our series on sanctification, unpacking the three-step process for biblical change that Paul lays out in Ephesians 4: lay aside, be renewed, and put on. Friend, are you searching for biblical change? Today's message will help you greatly.

Today's message from Pastor Tom once again focuses on Philippians 2 and the spiritual transformation that God desires of every believer. And at the heart of that change are three steps that every believer must understand and apply: lay aside, be renewed, and put on. No Christian ever makes genuine progress in sanctification without all three.

Today we examine two critical elements: the attitude with which we are to pursue holiness and our actual part in the process itself. That part is captured in four words: ""work out your salvation."" Today, we learn what this expression means and why it is a key component of sanctification.