Podcasts about Ten Commandments

Today is day 256 and we are studying The Ten Commandments. 256. Recite the Ten Commandments. 1. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods but me. 2. You shall not make for yourself any idol. 3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother. 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet. (Book of Common Prayer 2019 version from Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 5:6–21) We will conclude today with The Decalogue found on page 100 of the Book of Common Prayer (2019). If you would like to buy or download To Be a Christian, head to ⁠anglicanchurch.net/catechism⁠. Produced by Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Madison, MS. Original music from Matthew Clark. Daily collects and Psalms are taken from Book of Common Prayer (2019), created by the Anglican Church in North America and published by the Anglican Liturgical Press. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Catechism readings are taken from To Be a Christian - An Anglican Catechism Approved Edition, copyright © 2020 by The Anglican Church in North America by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Doug Keck joins with the Inside Word at EWTN. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer joins to discuss the Ten Commandments in Texas and Louisiana schools. Vanessa weighs in on the Charlie Kirk assassination in Fact Check Friday and her Coach's Commentary. Plus, author John Clark visits to talk about his book "God''s Wounds - The Remarkable Truth of Those Who ore the Signs of Christ's Passion".

Does watching The Chosen violate the Second Commandment? In this episode, Mark Vance and Emily Jensen continue their journey through the Ten Commandments by digging into the second commandment.They discuss how this command calls us to worship the true God in the true way, what it means in a culture filled with media and art, and why our hearts are so easily drawn toward substitutes. Along the way, they reflect on The Chosen, Christian media, and how to discern what helps or hinders genuine worship.Episode Highlights:00:00 — Introducing the second commandment03:20 — The conversation about The Chosen and Christian media09:45 — What “graven images” meant in the Old Testament context15:30 — How images and idols distort true worship21:50 — Where Christian art can serve faith versus distract from it28:40 — Practical ways to keep God at the center of worship todayResources:Cornerstone Church SermonsTim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

Father Larry, Msgr. Pope join Bill discuss the 9th and 10th commandments and conclude our series on the 10 commandments

00:00 Emily and Edmund kick off the episode by introducing the sixth and seventh petitions: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. They explore how modern generations oscillate between moral relativism and hyper-vigilance about right and wrong, despite many still praying regularly. This sets the stage for examining how the Catechism helps us discern objective morality amid today's shifting cultural views. 08:08 Edmund and Emily show how over-intellectualizing the Faith led to two extremes, either thinking we can resist temptation on our own (Pelagianism) or feeling powerless without special election (Jansenism). These often show up today as indifference or scrupulosity. They unpack the Greek roots of “lead us not into temptation,” noting it means both “don't let us enter” and “don't let us yield,” and encourage praying for God's help to trust His will and avoid yielding to temptation.15:46 Edmund and Emily emphasize that temptation isn't sinful, only yielding to it is. They encourage humility and reliance on God's grace instead of shame. Using everyday examples like marital frustrations over an unloaded dishwasher, they show how praying for virtues (e.g., patience) can help in the midst of temptation. They highlight the Catechism's wisdom on discernment, distinguishing growth-forming trials from temptations that lead to sin and discuss the importance of avoiding both indifference and scrupulosity.22:15 Edmund and Emily illustrate how charity and community can justly take precedence over strict observance, reminding us that relationship trumps anxious rule-keeping. They stress discernment in distinguishing between trials and temptations. The motto: “rules without relationship lead to rebellion,” highlights the heart's posture in prayer. 28:05 Edmund and Emily wrap up with practical tips for catechists: integrate the Ten Commandments into prayer by guiding an examination of conscience that moves beyond a checklist to a heartfelt dialogue with God. They stress honest, heart-level prayer and bringing specific struggles before Jesus, asking for grace so that doctrine informs our lived encounter, not just intellectual assent.An OSV Podcasts partner. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” (Exodus 20:4 NLT) The second commandment must have resonated powerfully with the Israelites because when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, the people were worshiping a golden calf—an idol they had created while Moses was away. Understanding their mindset helps us understand the importance of the second commandment. The first thing we need to recognize is that before they started worshiping the golden calf, the people had a feast dedicated to the Lord that included peace offerings and burnt offerings. They mingled what was right with what was wrong. Essentially, they were saying, “This godliness of Moses is too high for us. We want a spirituality that we can relate to. Something we can see and touch. Something that appeals to the senses. We don’t want to feel guilty if we don’t do what God says. So, we will just make up our own version.” That describes the spirituality of many people today. But what if we applied the same logic to other areas? Imagine an airline pilot saying, “I’m tired of all these charts, buttons, lights, and gauges. Let’s just take off and go with the flow.” Or a surgeon saying, “I don’t know what this artery or this section of the brain does. Just give me a scalpel, and let’s see what happens.” Or a person saying, “Traffic laws are your truth, not mine. You’re free to believe that red means stop, but you must also respect my belief that red means go.” We recognize that there are absolute truths that we all must live by—in aviation, in medicine, and on the road. But instead of recognizing that there are absolute truths about God, people try to give Him a twenty-first-century makeover. People say, “My god would never judge a person” or “My god would never send a person to Hell.” That’s the spirit of idolatry—substituting a concept of God that appeals to us for the God who makes Himself known in His Word. The goal is not to conform God and the teachings of Scripture to the shifting winds of culture. The goal is to try to bend the culture back to the teaching of the Word of God. The same principle applies to rituals or religious tchotchkes that take the place of genuine worship and prayer. You don’t need a picture of Jesus or a crucifix or any other icon to get close to God. Any object or ritual that works its way into your relationship with the Lord has the potential to become an idol. If you have a personal relationship with Christ, and if you have a Bible, you have everything you need to worship and serve God. Celebrate the true God. Don’t let facsimiles take His place in your life. Reflection question: What facsimiles of faith do you see in the lives of people around you? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this story, we learn that God gives us his good rules so we can live free lives that reflect him. ✧ Check out more resources in The Biggest Story Curriculum ✧ Follow The Biggest Story on Instagram ✧ Watch The Biggest Story Animated Videos! ✧ Sign up to receive weekly emails about the new story each week!

By Jorge de Campos - Paul had to suffer. Paul encourages us to be spiritually circumcised. He went through trials and sufferings. He counted all that he lost physically as dung. We have to seek God's Righteousness. We have to know Christ, the power of the resurrection and suffer as Christ did.

By William Bradford - This is the second part of a mid-week Bible study series covering Christ's fifth discourse in the book of Matthew. Continuing in the section about woes to the scribes and Pharisees.

There are only Ten Commandments, and I can't even keep the first one. Fortunately, we serve and worship a merciful, forgiving God. 

“Then God gave the people all these instructions.” (Exodus 20:1 NLT) Years ago, I was looking out the window into our backyard and noticed that my German shepherd was staring intently at something. There, nestled deeply in the grass, was a brightly colored little bird. Not the kind of bird you would normally see in the wild. It looked more like something you would get from a pet shop. I went out to investigate and found this pretty little finch shaking in fright as my dog eyed it. The bird was fearing for its life. And justly so because I think my dog was looking at it as lunch. I stooped down and held out my index finger, and the little bird hopped right on. So, I thought, “This is someone’s pet that got away.” I walked into the kitchen where my wife was making lunch. I said, “Cathe, look what I just found in the backyard.” She stared at the beautiful little bird, still very nervous, sitting on my finger. We didn’t know what to do with it. We knew it probably belonged to someone, but we didn’t know who. My son Jonathan recalled that there was a little girl down the street whose pet bird had died and who still had its cage. He ran down the street, came back with the cage, and set it on the counter. I opened the door and very carefully brought my finger next to it. The bird immediately jumped in. The moment that bird was in the safety of the cage, he started acting like he was home. He chirped cheerfully. He moved from perch to perch. He was happy. And then it dawned on me what was going on. This was a bird of captivity, one that was most comfortable living in a cage. Some people might say, “Oh, that’s so cruel. Don’t put animals in cages. Set them free.” This bird was fearing for his life. He didn’t look at those bars as a prison keeping him in. He saw them as walls of protection keeping his enemies, like my dog, out. He found security in the safety of that little cage. That brings me to the topic that we will be covering next in these devotions. God has given us His absolute truth—in the Ten Commandments, among other places. These commandments let us know what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s true and what’s false, what’s up and what’s down. They create a framework for our lives—a spiritual cage, of sorts. But their purpose is not to trap us or keep us in bondage. Instead, they provide a barrier of protection to keep evil out. Our enemy, the devil, tries to chip away at it. He downplays the effects of disobeying God or ignoring His commands. He tries to convince us that our protective barrier keeps us from a more exciting, fulfilling life. In other words, he lies. Over the next ten days, we’re going to examine each of God’s Ten Commandments so that you will see the life-giving truth behind each one. Reflection question: What impact do God’s commands in Scripture have in your life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we explore Exodus 20:12 and what it truly means to honor your father and mother. We'll look at the difference between honoring and obeying, how fatherlessness has shaped our culture, and practical ways we can honor our parents in every season of life. Resources: Purchase Tim's book "Breathe": Link Show notes and more info: Hope Rescue If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on iTunes. Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook @hoperescuepodcast. For comments, questions, or suggestions for future episodes, email us at hoperescuepodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening! We appreciate your support!

This Sunday we get into the iconic Ten Commandments, often called "The Decalogue." How should we think about these commands and apply them to our lives today?

This week we have a special episode with FWISD teachers Ale Checka & Ernie Morán as we discuss a possible Texas Education Agency takeover by Commissioner Mike Morath, and what life looks like for teachers these days after all the recent legislative changes from the state.For more context on what's been happening, check out these articles:From a cell phone ban to Ten Commandments posters, new state laws bring big changes to Texas schoolsTexas education chief visits Fort Worth schools as state takeover loomsCowtown Takeover: What Happens if the State Takes Control of Fort Worth ISD?FWISD's stalled progress sign that schools need state takeover, commissioner saysWe'll be back next week with a regular episode of the 817 Podcast.

The eighth commandment given to the people in Exodus: 'You shall not steal.' In this week's message, Clint shows us how the eighth commandment goes beyond simple theft, urging us to consider how we might be 'stealing' through wrong keeping - holding onto excess while others are in need. By examining Exodus 20:15 and Ephesians 4:28, we're invited to view our possessions as gifts from God meant for stewardship, not ownership. This perspective shift can radically transform our approach to generosity. As we contemplate Christ's ultimate act of generosity on the cross, we're encouraged to let His sacrificial love melt our hearts, freeing us from the grip of materialism and inspiring us to give freely. This message invites us to examine our hearts, our budgets, and our priorities, asking whether they truly reflect the generous spirit of Christ.

This week Pastor Darrin continues his series on the Ten Commandments as he talks about murder.

Message from Dr. Michael Youssef on September 7, 2025

n the Bible, the number 10 symbolizes completeness, divine order, and human responsibility. It represents the fullness of God's law and His perfect plan, most clearly seen in the Ten Commandments. The number also reminds us of God's authority over creation and His rightful rule in our lives.10 is about making time and space for God to move. Have you ever set aside intentional time and a specific place to simply ask God to move? This month, that's exactly what we're doing—creating space and time for God to work in our lives, our church, and our community.

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptGood morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. So we, as I said last week, we are taking a break. We just finished up First Samuel and we are not going to jump straight into Second Samuel. We're going to do that in the new year. We're going to do a series called re member series called Remember. We'll do that through the fall and then we'll do give series and we'll come back to Second Samuel. We're excited about this series. This is an opportunity for us to revisit and remember what it means to be a member of this church. See how clever we are with titles, you guys. There you go. One clap. It's an opportunity for us to revisit what it means to be a member of this church. So we're going to over the next few months walk through our membership commitments and revisit the things that bind us together as beliefs and practices. And then if you are a member of this church, we'll have the opportunity this fall to actually recommit to membership. We're excited about that and we're going to have more information about that at our upcoming family meeting. So make sure that you are there if you're a committed member of our church, to be at family meeting. But we're thankful that we get to walk through this over the next couple months. These 14 different membership commitments that we have before we jump into those commitments today, I want to look at the why and the what of membership. We need to look at the why and the what of membership before we jump into what we actually commit to as a church. Because some folks will pose the question, why membership in the first place? Why do you have membership? Why belong to a church? Some people ask, is church membership even biblical? Like, where do you get this idea? So we're going to examine that idea while also being clear about what it means to be a member of this church. Like what is our membership commitment all about? And there's some language that we use that is going to sound very familiar, that if you ask what does it mean to be a member of of Mill City Church of Cayce, There's a phrase that will show up as we walk through this today. I know it's going to blow your mind like you've never heard it before. But we are a gospel centered community on mission. It's the language we use over and over again. I'm pretty sure it's on the wall somewhere in the lobby. But there's a reason we are that and there is a Reason why that really defines who we are as a church. And we're going to see that as we walk through why membership, but also what it means to be a member of this church. So I want to pray for us and then we will walk through this together.Heavenly Father, I pray that you might help us have ears to hear this morning. I pray that you might help us see why it is good to belong, why it is good to commit to following you, to delighting in you, to loving one another, to being obedient, to take the gospel to our city. God, I pray you'd help us be present and we'd be not just hearers of the Word, but we would be doers of the Word. As we trust you, we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.All right, so why do we practice church membership? Someone will ask, where in the Bible do you find the command to be a member of a local church? Now, this may come as a shock to some of you, but you're not going to find any one verse in the Bible that commands for you to be a part of a church through church membership. There's no Third Corinthians that shows up and says, and be a member of a local church and submit to the elders of that local church. There's not any one verse that really makes this crystal clear, which is if there was, it might make the conversation about membership a little bit easier over the years as we've had it. But what you will see is as you look through the Scriptures, you'll see that God is doing something in setting up his church. And that's what I want to do. For the first part in answering why membership? I want to do what's I want to do a biblical theology of church membership, which is going from the Old Testament to the New Testament to see how God is developing this people that is going to belong to him, with him at the center to declare His Excellencies to a lost world. So that's what I want to do, starting off in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis. So God chooses in the Book of Genesis, Abraham that he's going to form a people through. He promises Abraham he's going to have a great nation that's made through him. And in this selection of Abraham, we see that God is going to have a unique, special relationship with him and his people, unlike the rest of humanity. And there's this promise of this great nation, this great people that he's going to bless the nations through. And then when you get to the next Book of The Bible, the second book, the book of Exodus. You see that God takes his descendants, the twelve tribes of Israel who have been slaves in Egypt. He brings them out of Egypt. And when they're wandering in the wilderness in Exodus 19, you see really the formation and the formal covenant relationship that God establishes with his people. And in Exodus 19 he tells his people in verse 5,> Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.These are the words he shall speak to the people of Israel. Then he tells them that you are my treasured possession. And as this is going to play out, he's going to take this people, his treasured possession to the promised land. He's going to set himself up in the center of his people to be a God centered people that are uniquely his, unlike any other aspect of creation, unlike any other people. And that this people is going to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This people was meant to be separate from the nations that look different, that proclaim the excellencies of God as a light to the surrounding nations. And then this is Exodus 19, right before Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. When he gets the Ten Commandments, you see the first four commandments and the Ten Commandments are God centered commandments. This is how to have right relationship with God and worshiping God alone. And then the next six are how to live in good community with one another, how to love one another, how to trust one another, don't lie, don't murder, don't steal. And then the rest of the Old Testament law is really expounding upon those 10 Commandments. It's helping them see in their context, in their time, this is what it means to be a people who has God at the center, who loves one another fiercely in a community that takes care of one another, that looks separate from the nations, that declares how good our God is. And when you read the rest of the Old Testament, you see a people that most of the time falls on their face in trying to live that out, that over and over again. They don't put God at the center, they worship other gods, they don't love each other, they don't serve each other, they take advantage of one another. And instead of looking separate than the nations in order to show how good their God is, they look just like the nations. And that is the reason that they need a Savior and there's this hope from the prophets proclaiming this Savior is going to come. And then Jesus comes.Flip to the New Testament. When Jesus comes, he begins to develop this with new and better language. You see, if you just take the Gospel of Matthew, just start there. When you start reading the Gospel of Matthew, you're going to see what God is doing. In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus begins His ministry by preaching the gospel, proclaiming the gospel of his kingdom that is coming, and declaring the good news. And then he also chooses a people. He chooses the 12 disciples, these disciples whom he's going to build his church through. He begins teaching them. You keep flipping. Go to Matthew chapter five through Matthew chapter seven. You read the Sermon on the Mount. This is a retelling of the law and new and really better language, showing the heart of God all along for his people. What it looks like to put God at the center, what it looks like to take sin seriously, to live in community. We see some of this and more teaching, more of his ministry. When you get to Matthew chapter 11, you see that he commissions out his disciples. He puts them on a mission trip to begin to declare the good news of the Gospel to the people in the surrounding areas. You keep reading the Gospel of Matthew, you see more teaching, you see more of his work and his ministry. And then you get to Matthew chapter 18. And then Jesus begins to use a word to describe what this people is going to be, that he's making this new covenant people, and that is the church. The Greek word for that is ekklesia. It means church or assembly. And it shows up in Matthew 18. And Jesus begins to describe what this church is going to look like. It's going to be a people who take sin seriously, who hold each other accountable, who practice radical forgiveness. That is unlike the rest of the world. Jesus continues to teach. He continues to form his people. He continues to disciple his disciples. And then it is time for him to do the work that no one can do. He does the work of salvation. He takes his perfect record of righteousness with him to the cross. He dies on the cross for our sins because we were unable to to obey the law. He dies on the cross, taking judgment upon himself. He conquers death at the resurrection, removing the power of death over his people. And then he looks at his disciples at the end of Matthew and he tells them,> 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.He tells them, you're going to take everything that you've learned from me over the last three years. This message of the gospel that I came to redeem you and save you. This message of what it looks like to be a people that are committed to having God at the center and loving one another. Well, you're going to take that to the nations where they're going to hear the gospel and believe and you can read Mark and Luke and John and you're going to see this story over and over again. Then you get the book of Acts where Jesus ascends to the right hand of God the Father being king over all creation. And then the Holy Spirit descends upon his people and the church begins in Acts 2. You read that Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit stands up, preaches the first sermon at Pentecost and 3,000 people, people place plus people place their faith in Jesus and are baptized. And then we see some of the very first acts of this church and responding to Christ in faith and baptism. It says in verse 42. We'll have more time to study this exact passage in community group this week. I just want to hit some of the highlights to help us see what God is doing here. In verse 42 he says,> And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.That's the teachings of Christ. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. They were a gospel centered people. And it continues into the fellowship and the breaking of bread and prayers. You go to verse 44.> And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.That they were a people that believed the gospel, devoted themselves to that teaching, but they devoted themselves to one another. They fellowshiped together, they broke bread together, they took care of each other's needs. They saw their brothers and sisters in Christ as more important than money and material things. And they're selling their stuff so that they can take care of one another. And then it goes in verse 47 and finishes.> And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.That this message continues to be introduced to people who hear and believe and are brought into the church to continue to be a gospel centered community on mission to take the gospel to the world that desperately needed it. The church in Jerusalem continues to expand as you follow the story. Keep flipping through Acts. All of a sudden God has a plan to see scatter his people and involves the death of one of his servants, Stephen. He ordains the death of Stephen who's proclaiming the Good news of Jesus Christ and he's murdered for it. And in Acts chapter eight, after he's martyred, it says, and Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And now we see that the plan is spreading, that it's not just a church in Jerusalem now, it's in Judea and it's in Samaria. And the church is going global. One of the ways this has been described is that the church globally is the big sea church in creeds. That's called the Catholic Church. It's not referring to the Catholic denomination, but the Catholic meaning universal. That there's this global, universal church bound together by Christ. But it's not just in Jerusalem, it's in Judea, it's in Samaria. It's scattered in communities across the world in local churches. That's usually called the little C church. But there are little C churches who are forming together with Christ at the center, seeking to be what God has called them. Now the church is spreading past Jerusalem. And then that man who was involved in the killing of Stephen Saul in Acts chapter nine is on his way to persecute more Christians. And then Jesus blinds him, converts him. And then we know him mostly as Paul. And then Paul is set apart to take this even further. And he plants churches all over Asia Minor, all over Europe. And the church begins to spread and expand. As you continue to read the Book of Acts, you see the gospel spreading all over that region. But as these churches are getting established and they're seeking to be a gospel centered people that are taking the gospel to the nations as they're seeking to be this, they start to run into problems. They start to run into different things, different sins, different struggles. There's a bunch of people who the thing that the. The central binding idea that holds them together is Christ. But they're very, very different. Different ethnicities, different cultures, different classes. And as you continue to read the rest of the New Testament, you see that God had a plan for this, that he starts to write letters, inspired scripture through servants like Paul to these churches to help them see what it means to be a gospel centered people. How to fight for what is good, how to repent of sin, how to live in community, how to still have some missional hustle to take the gospel to the nations. But when you read the beginnings of these letters, you see very clearly that these are individual churches. I'll run through a Bunch of them. Really quickly. The letter to the Corinthians, in First Corinthians, Chapter one, it says, to the church of God that is in Corinth, that is that church in that city with their unique issues. This is a letter to that church. Not all the churches, though all the churches, will eventually benefit from this, helping us see now it's not just one global church. There's individual churches where these people belong to one another and have their own leaders and their own issues they're facing. It continues to the churches of Galatia, that's a whole region of different churches that Paul planted in his first missionary journey. To the saints who are in Ephesus, that's the book of Ephesians. To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, that's the book of Philippians. To the church of Thessalonians and God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, that's the church in Thessalonica. You start to see that there is one global church made up of individuals, communities of Christians who are seeking to be centered in Christ, loving one another fiercely and taking the Gospel to their friends and their neighbors. And you follow that thread all the way through the letters and you'll get to the end. The Book of Revelation, which we did last year. And as we saw the Book of Revelation, it's not just apocalyptic literature. It's not just proclaiming what's going to happen. It is also a letter written to seven churches. Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and as we saw last year, all churches with different problems, with different sins, some needing encouragement, all of them mostly needing a smack across the face from Jesus. But those are all individual churches where those people belong to Christ and. And one another seeking to be obedient in following him and taking the Gospel to those who needed it. So that's Genesis to Revelation. While you're not going to find one specific verse that makes this so clear, what you can see from start to finish is that God had a plan to form a people. And that plan was to be localized in churches where there were people that were so deeply committed to following Christ and having a zeal and a desire to worship and delight in him over all things, to be a people, a community that so deeply loved one another and cared for one another, that looked radically different than the rest of the world. So much so that historians at the time were looking at these Christians and saying there's something different about them. And to be a people who are not so self focused that they were going to use their energy and their effort and their time and their money and their lives lives to proclaim the good news to those who didn't know. That is God's plan for redemption. One global church working through individual local churches all around the world. That is God's plan for the church. So when someone says I don't see membership in the Bible, I just want to say it's, you got to read the whole story. You need to see what God is doing. You need to see God's plan for redemption that is through the local church.I was talking to a pastor a few weeks back and he was telling me a story about a guy who had been coming to their church and he said, did this guy come? And he was kind of coming for weeks and they started to introduce the idea, maybe you should think about committing here. And he said, oh no, I don't believe membership is biblical. He's like, I'm a part of the big C church, we're all a part of the same church, but I'm not going to commit to membership here. And he was kind of taken aback and he engaged with the conversation. He said, okay, take what you're saying, so you're a member of the big sea, the, the big church universal. He said, yeah. He said, okay, well am I like a pastor in this big old church in the world? And he said, yeah. He said okay, so does it make me like your pastor? He said, yeah. He said, alright, let me share with you Hebrews chapter 13. He said,> Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.He said, do you believe that's true? He said, yeah. He said, okay, so if I'm your pastor and you're gonna submit to me, you should go through the membership process at our church. He just laid it out for him and the guy said no and he left and he never came back. And I thought that was quite the clever way to be able to explain and poke holes in the guy's argument. But that passage is incredibly helpful. You read the New Testament letters and you see that God has structured for these local communities that he has pastors, elders that are overseeing the church. So when I look at that passage, obey your leaders and submit to them. It's helpful for me when I'm talking to people about membership. It's like, I belong to this church, I'M one of the pastors of this church. I belong to them, they belong to me. My people aren't down the road. They're the brothers and sisters. They're not across town, they're not across the world. I don't pastor them, I don't oversee their souls. I don't answer for their souls. No, it's this people. And you see that God has a plan and even the oversight of his church. And I think this is important, especially in Southern culture. And here's why. In Southern culture, pretty much still everyone, if you ask them, are you a Christian? They're gonna say, yeah. The overwhelming majority of people in the south are still gonna say, yeah, I'm a Christian. And if you begin to press into that, a lot of times it's, well, I'm Methodist or I'm Presbyterian or Episcopalian, or I'm Baptist or I'm Catholic. And it's like, what does that mean? I was just born Christian, I was born a Methodist. And as you look at the scriptures, you're not born a Christian. And if you continue to press into this, what you also see is there are a lot of people that claim the name of Christ that don't really belong anywhere. They don't commit to any people, don't commit to the Lord locally anywhere. They're just free floating in a way that is so foreign to the scriptures. And then what you'll also see is you'll see people that go, yeah, I mean, I don't really, not really. I don't really, I'm not a member anywhere. I, I like this church for the worship. I like this church for the teaching. I like this church for their Bible studies, like this church for their small groups. I like this church for their outreach. And I kind of just, you know, take everywhere like it's a buffet. And it's like, man, to make the church of Jesus Christ for your own benefit is so foreign to what the scriptures teach about the church that is not the church that Jesus bled and died for. You should be committed to God and his people somewhere. And my hope is that as you look at the grand story, you'll see, yes, you should belong. You should be a member of a church somewhere. Christians are not designed to be outside of the church or just not. And over the next couple months, I hope we continue to see that over and over again as we walk through this.Now that's the why of why we should belong to a church. Now I just want to, as we end look at the what, what does it mean to belong to this church? And it's gonna sound like a broken record, but it's a good one. It's a record we spend every Sunday. It's what Chet Phillips calls the bee's knees of belonging, which I don't know why he calls it that, but it's really important to us. And that is being a gospel centered community on mission. And that's what you're going to see over the next two months. Walking through this, you're going to see 14 different commitments that highlight that. So let's start with that first part. What does it mean to be gospel centered? It means that we are a church that is bound together by. By one shared story. And that story is the message of the gospel. We are bound together by this one shared story in a way that not just defines us at the beginning in belief, but defines us in belief and practice the rest of our lives. If you look at the American story, okay, if you look at the American story at the beginning, you see that it's a group of people that are anti tyranny. Okay? No taxation without representation. No king's going to tell us what to do. You'll see that it's a people that love freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of worship, freedom of speech. Don't step on my freedoms. You'll see that it's a people that have some hustle, some dogged determination to exist. That's how America began. But that's also the story that permeates through its people throughout time, that even today, Americans don't like kings. Don't tell me what I can and cannot do. We like freedom and there's still some dogged determination to exist. That's the American spirit and it still flows through its people. And we as Christians have a much better story. We as Christians have a much better story. That's not just our origin story, but it permeates through us in our lives. It is the story of Jesus Christ. It is the story of a God who looked on humanity, that rejected him, that spit upon his goodwill, that decided that they wanted to worship what they wanted to worship and find what they thought fulfilling and rejected him over and over again. And God and His mercy does not give us judgment. He sends His Son that Christ comes and he dies on the cross for sinners. And he conquers death at the resurrection. And he gives us grace that we don't deserve to be in relationship with Him. And he forms us more into his image through his work, through his will and desire and good pleasure and that story continues to work within his people. It is the story that saves us, but it's the story that sustains us. In the same way that as foreigners come to America and they become American citizens and in a lot of ways embody the American spirit in beautiful ways, they start loving freedom. They start. They have this dogged determination within them. We do not belong to this world as Christians. Scriptures say that we have. Our citizenship is in heaven. From we have with a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are part of the world that is to come. And as citizens of that kingdom here on this earth, as sojourners and strangers and foreigners, that we embody what it means to belong to him more than anything else. So what we'll see over the next coming weeks as we walk through these commitments, we'll see what it means to be a gospel centered people bound together by that story. But we will also see what it means to be a community. What it means to be a gospel centered community. One of the metaphors that we see in the New Testament for the church, for the this community is the body. So Romans 12, we'll talk about one body, many members. So one body, different body parts, different members of the body in a way that each person is doing their gift to be able to serve one another well. And man, when you see that actually in practice, when you experience what it means to belong to the church of Jesus Christ and have different members of the body who, who love and serve you, it is a glorious story. I mean, if you ever see someone who loses their job, which is a massive loss, and they're crushed, and then someone in their group finds out, and all of a sudden their whole group is messaging them saying, hey, we love you, like we're praying for you. You need to know that your identity is not in the work that you do. Your identity is in the God who loves you, who sustains you. God's going to provide for you. He's going to take care of you, we're going to take care of you. But you need to remember the gospel. And then all of a sudden, they're behind the scenes organizing things. By the time he gets home, there's already been a meal delivered and there's meals to be delivered the next few days. All of a sudden someone else in the church hears about this and they put $1,000 in an envelope and drop it on the doorstep. And all of a sudden he's being provided for, his family's being loved. And then more people in the church find out all of A sudden they ask, can we be praying about this? That you would find a new job that ends up in our prayer message that goes out to our members. Now the whole church is praying and then someone else in the church hears about that and says, wait a second, I know what he does for a living. I got a friend who's hiring for that position right now. They reach out and say, hey, hey, can you talk to this, Talk to my friend. He's hiring. And then within a week, he's already got a job lined up. When you see the church respond like that over and over and over and over again, it makes me so thankful for the church of Jesus Christ and how his church responds over and over again. We've seen this over and over again in our church and it's wonderful. And I wish in some ways more of those stories were told. I know why we don't. Because we don't let the left hand know what the right is doing. I get that. But the stories that go viral are the church hurt stories. And yes, those stories exist. They're real stories with real pain. I'm not denying the existence of them. But boy, oh boy, the amount of church help stories where people rally around one another, it's like 100 to 1 to 1 compared to that. The church is a wonderful people to belong to, to see them in action over and over and over again because they're centered in Christ in a way that helps us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, see something beyond our own interest. And when you see it in action, it's beautiful. It's a family. And that's the language of the New Testament. Often when it talks about the church and is family. When you start learning New Testament Greek, one of the first, you start with the vocabulary words that are the most, most used in the New Testament. And one of the first words you learn in Greek is adelphoi, it's the word for brothers and sisters. Because it shows up over and over and over again in the scriptures to talk about God's people, that we are a family, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul, when he's making converts, talks about his converts like spiritual children. That we are a family, that we love one another, that we belong to one another. And when you study the Book of Acts, you see this. The church functions like a family. I was trying to explain this to someone recently. I was trying to explain this concept and I was just saying, listen, I'm close with my earthly family. I'm close with my parents, my brothers, and my sisters, like we are, we're close, but boy, oh boy, there's some eternal depth that I have with brothers and sisters in this church that when crap hits the fan in my life, the first few messages are not to family. And that's not to lower my earthly family. I'm real close with them. It's to elevate what the importance of church family is here. And when it hits the fan, I'm messaging people in this church and I got people in this church who rally around in wonderful ways. To belong to a family that fiercely loves God and one another is beautiful, it's compelling, it's wonderful. It is so good to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. And as you walk through the membership commitment with us over the next couple of months, you're going to see this. You're going to see how we fight for this, how this is so unbelievably important to us. We want to be a gospel centered people. We want to be a community that's like a family, but we also want to take this thing that we hold dear to those who don't believe. We're a gospel centered community on mission. And that's what we're also going to see in our membership commitment. We do not exist to be a holy huddle. We do not exist to be inwardly focused. We exist to take this wonderful news that brought us from death to life, to people, to friends, to neighbors, to co workers so that they might taste and see that the Lord is good and be brought into the family of God. We care deeply about this.Now, one of the downsides to you using the word membership is because sometimes the word membership in our culture has a consumeristic bent. I mean, you could be a member of Costco. It's a pretty low commitment. You pay, what is it, 80 bucks a year? You know, and then you get to go and buy all sorts of bulk goods that certainly will, certainly some of it will spoil in your cabinets because it's just hard to use up all that stuff before it goes bad. Maybe your family's better than ours. We couldn't do it. Or Walmart. Plus, that's not important. There's a consumeristic nature sometimes to the word membership that makes it about self, that makes it about our interest. And I still think the word membership is worth fighting for. I still think it's worth reclaiming from our culture to help us see that it is not about self, that membership is about something bigger than us. It's about a people who leverage their time and their Talents and their energy and their money and their efforts and their lives so that others who do not know Christ, others who are sprinting towards an eternity apart from God under his wrath, who desperately need to know the love of a savior who bled and died for them, that it's worth our energy and our hustle and our grit to take that. To those who don't believe. It's not a country club. It's more like a military outpost. The membership we have here, we don't want to be a country club. Country club is low commitment. You pay your fee, you get to go play golf, get to enjoy the pool, but you don't keep the greens and you don't scrub the pool. We don't want to be that. We want to be more like a military outpost. Our country has military outposts all over the world. And the members of the US Military who are at those outposts, they are there to serve the interest of America. They. They're there to serve the interests of their commander in chief. They are there bound together, laser focused, whether it's promoting the values of America in that area of the world or at times, whether it's fighting a war, but they are laser focused, committed to the mission of America. And we have something so much better than that. We are citizens of a kingdom that is not of this world. And we serve a king who. Who reigns for eternity. And we get to serve him in a land that we do not belong to, that is foreign to us. And we get to serve his interests taking the gospel to people who do not know him, making enemies, friends, making the lost found, making the dead alive in Christ. That's what we want to be. The church is supposed to be. And I'll be honest, we've had folks in the past who came to our church looking for a country club and they just didn't stick. And we're not perfect. We got our flaws. You've been here long enough, you go learn them. But that's not what we want to be. But we've also had folks who've been there and done some of the Southern consumeristic Christianity. And they see the things that we're fighting for and they love it and they jump on and they see I do. I want to be a people that loves one another fiercely, that chases after Jesus together. That is taking the gospel to those who don't believe. I want to be a part of that. And they jump in and we hustle and we fight to be the church of the New Testament and the scriptures that we see that hustled and fought and was missional and had some dog in it. Like we want to be that type of church to missionaries, be everyday missionaries here in this city, in Columbia. So we want to be. And as we walk through the membership commitment over the next few months, this is something that is going to show up. And at times it's hard. I'm not going to lie. At times living out the ideals and the practices and the beliefs of our commitments is difficult. And what's helpful for my soul, maybe it'll be helpful for you, is I like to take the 10,000 year perspective when I think about all this stuff. 10,000 years from now, are you going to regret when you look back at this life not picking up more hobbies, not being the best pickleball player in the world, not using all your money to level up to the next part of society, to the next class, Are you going to regret not fulfilling the American dream and all of its trappings? Or are you going to be so insanely thankful that the work of the Spirit went to work in your heart in a way that helped you leverage your time and your energy and your heart's desire to be a people so deeply centered on the gospel, so deeply, fiercely loving one another and so outwardly focused that you took the gospel to some of your co workers who currently right now are walking as enemies of the cross of Christ because you love them, because you served them, because you stood in the way between them and hell and said Jesus is better than everything else. And they placed their faith in Jesus and they got baptized and they joined a group and they kept fighting to believe all the way to 10,000 years from now. They are standing in the presence of their Savior, worshiping him with you because you gave your life away to something that matters. That is what our commitment is all about. And that's what we're gonna look at the next couple of months. My hope is that for the members of this church, you'd be so deeply excited that you be so thankful for the work of Christ in our lives that we get to do this together. But if you're not new and you're checking us out, I hope you stick around. I hope my yelling didn't run you off. It's just, I'm just excited, you guys.

By Tim Martens - Our hands each have five fingers which can be used to provide an ongoing reminder and an outline for our prayers.

By Dan Preston - Most people don't think of themselves as cowardly, especially regarding their faith. What exactly is cowardice? Is it the same as fear? Are we allowing it to become a barrier to the Kingdom of God, and what can we do to overcome it?

By Jerald Kliewer - Happiness depends on something good happening. But is happiness joy? Joy goes beyond happiness.

By Stephen Bouchette - Hypocrisy is acting one way but being another. The Bible sternly warns about hypocrisy. A hypocrite is a fake. A phony; an actor; an imposter. It is alive and well both in Christ's time and in ours. Jesus even warned His church about this. The person that lies to us most often is ourselves. Are we

By Anthony Scott - Investigate God's word to define what true Christian freedom or liberty is.

By Joshua Vazquez - This sermonette reflects on the concept of victimhood in today's troubled world, using a recent YouTube debate as a starting point to explore attitudes toward hardship and opportunity. It emphasizes the Christian perspective of hope through faith and the importance of active perseverance despite

By Doug Wendt - The bible warns us to be watchful of the times we live in as well as our own spiritual condition. Jesus admonished His followers to learn from the examples of the past by focusing their attention on the important things of life. This requires that we have a constant sense of urgency in preparing for

By Robert Dunham - Hearing God's Word is essential and linked to spiritual nourishment, requiring discernment and obedience.

By Don Ward - The definition of faith and its components are explained using the example of Abraham---the father of the faithful. Furthermore, the sermon explores the origin, development and the outcome of faith and how it is a prerequisite for God creating His Holy righteous character within the believer.

By Scott McKeon - An interlude before the seventh trumpet includes an unusual angel, unusual act, unusual answer, unusual announcement, and unusual assignment.

By Lewis Vanausdle - This detailed sermon recounts a mission trip to Africa, focusing on visits to brethren and pastors in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and South Africa, combined with a deep theological exploration of the concept of love from a biblical perspective. The speaker reflects on the experiences of fellowship, baptisms

By Troy Phelps - Speaker: Troy Phelps Date: 9/6/25 This final sermon in the Cherish series shows how cherishing our spouse is lived out daily—through uplifting words, tender touch, and truly knowing our “one and only.” It's about countless small choices that reflect the way God and Christ cherish us.

By John Freeman - In Matthew 23:3, Jesus makes a statement that is puzzling. He said "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not do after their works: for they say, and do not." This seems to contradict statements He made elsewhere. In this message, we examine history, language

By Michael Greider - If you are not proactive in your Christian life, then you are floating – and not always in the right direction. So take the paddle and pick the direction you want to head.

By William Bradford - As we approach the Feast of Tabernacles, this message reminds us to shift our focus to the prophecies describing the thousand-year period of Christ's reign on this earth, so that we can prepare to be kings and priests in God's Kingdom.

By Dan Dowd - After Sabbath services on September 5th, 2025, Mr. Dan Dowd, a member of the UCG Council of Elders, spent a few minutes answering questions submitted by the Atlanta and Buford congregations.

By Craig Scott - Differences in how various premillennialist groups believe and teach about the return of Christ comes from how they understand the biblical statements about a time of tribulation that at the end of this present age.

By Steve Corley - Why did Jesus Christ place so much importance on the words coming from our mouth? He said: “…for every idle word men may speak, they will give account…” (Matt. 12:36). Christians need to be very careful in their use of casual language.

By Todd Herridge - Jesus says He knows our works. Let's answer three important questions: 1. How important are good works? 2. What are good works? 3. How can our good works show us we're drawing closer to God?

By Robin S Webber - We are about to experience 4 dynamic festivals of faith in a row within the next 4 weeks. Are you going to merely bump into them without forethought & send out S.O.S.("same-old-stuff") signals and/or are you preparing now for our God to knowingly interrupt your life "to be about our Father's

By Andrew C Lee - Christ calls us the light of the world; what are some ways we can shine through the darkness of the world through God's Holy Spirit? Let's reflect on three metaphors Christ used to reveal how we can apply this to our everyday lives, even if in small ways, making a difference in other people's lives

By Kelly Irvin - In the book of Luke, Jesus declares that if someone comes to Him and does not hate family members, and even his or her own life, also, then that person cannot be His disciple. Did He really demand hatred of others, or does the meaning go deeper, still allowing for God's love to flow from us even

By Christopher Coser - This message, intended as a primer for the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles, lays out the case--supported with detailed scriptural evidence--for why we should keep the Feast and what it means. The message concludes with a teaser for further study of the "Last Great" (Eighth) Day of the Feast and its

By Ken Loucks - This message answers one of the most pressing spiritual questions of our time: Is Satan real, and if so, what is he doing in the world today? It pulls back the curtain on why our world is filled with chaos, suffering, and deception, showing that these are not signs of God's failure but of Satan's

By Steve Myers - We're often told, “I'll believe it when I see it.” But faith calls us to something deeper — to trust even when the path is unclear. This message explores what it means to walk by faith and not by sight — to believe before we see. Through the lives of Moses, Abraham, and others, we're reminded that

By Mark Kasperson - Do we provide hope for others? How can we be an open door of hope for others? The answers to these questions and much more in this video sermon.

By Victor Kubik - Each member can make a mark in the world and church. God works through flawed, ordinary people. Antioch's grassroots Christian expansion (Acts 11) is similar to today's potential for small groups to make a big impact. Each generation has a role in spiritual renewal and outreach. Young people (and

A team of landscape architects studied the effects of providing a fence around a preschool playground. On playgrounds without fences, children tended to gather close to the school building and their teacher and didn’t stray away. But on fenced-in playgrounds, they enjoyed the entire area. The researchers concluded that boundaries can create a greater sense of freedom. This seems counterintuitive to so many of us who think boundaries restrict enjoyment. Yet fences can provide freedom! God underlines the freedom His boundaries provide for us. In offering the Ten Commandments to Israel, He promised that a “prosperous” life would result from living life within His divine boundaries. “Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess” (Deuteronomy 5:33). Here the concept of prosperity includes a life lived with good results—a life of quality. Jesus, who fulfilled the law with His death on the cross, proclaimed, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Indeed, God’s boundaries are for our good. “Fences” can free us to enjoy the life God created us to experience with Him.

In a short proceeding Thursday, Morris waived a preliminary hearing and an arraignment was set for Oct. 2nd. Morris' attorney declined comment when asked why he requested the hearing be waived. The Oklahoma attorney general's office, which is prosecuting the case, said in an email statement that it “looks forward to presenting our case against the defendant at trial.” In other news, Attorney General Ken Paxton has appealed a federal court ruling that blocked a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in some Texas classrooms. Paxton announced the appeal Thursday; as the annual State Fair of Texas season nears, the Dallas venue will soon be packed with visitors looking to win prizes, ride attractions or eat fried treats. Keeping those visitors safe is a top priority of fair officials; nd the Dallas Cowboys went toe to toe with the reigning Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles last night but came up a little short in 24-20 loss on the road to start the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is an idol, really? In this episode, Mark Vance and Emily Jensen continue the Ten Commandments series by looking at God's command to have no other gods before him. Together, they unpack what idolatry means, why it's more than statues or images, and how it shows up in the everyday loves and pursuits of our lives.Drawing from Scripture and voices like Tim Keller, they discuss how easily good things become ultimate things, why our hearts are prone to wander, and how God calls us to a better love—a love rooted in Him alone.Episode Highlights:00:00 — Introducing the commandment against idolatry04:30 — What an idol really is: taking the verbs of life away from God11:10 — How good things become “god things”17:45 — Insights from Tim Keller's Counterfeit Gods on modern idolatry24:20 — How God's commands redirect our love back to Him30:00 — Practical ways to identify and confront idols todayResources:Cornerstone Church SermonsTim Keller, Counterfeit GodsElyse Fitzpatrick, “Idols of the Heart”