Podcasts about A Christmas Story

Send us a textTwo holiday beers, one wild night. We crack open a chocolate peppermint bark stout that drinks like grown-up cocoa, then tackle an 11% cherry Belgian strong ale dressed up with a champagne cork—and yes, we found glass shards in two corks. That surprise detour turns into a quick safety PSA, an email to the brewery, and practical tips for opening corked beer bottles without bleeding on your bar towel. Once the adrenaline fades, we dig into tasting notes: how peppermint plays with stout without getting cloying, why the cherry tartness lands like a well-made sour, and how serving temp and glassware can make or break a high-gravity holiday ale.Between pours we trade stories from the home front: a washer on its last spin, the illusion of Black Friday savings after hoses and delivery fees, and the humble joy of finally doing laundry in peace. Then the conversation shifts to seasonal comfort watches. A Christmas Story still owns our hearts, Elf charms a new generation, and the Die Hard-as-Christmas-movie debate refuses to die. We riff on rewatchable pillars—Heat, Tombstone, Gladiator, 300, Red Dawn, The Lost Boys, Goonies—and why some films stop your channel surfing cold.We also keep a promise to our future selves: get screened. If you're 50 or older, book the colonoscopy. We share what the prep really feels like, why the overnight “sprint” is worth it, and how early detection changes outcomes. Final scores: peppermint stout lands at a confident 9 for balanced cocoa and mint; the cherry Belgian strong ale settles at 9 once it chills and opens up in a chalice. If you want holiday beer reviews with edge, movie nostalgia with teeth, and a little real-life wisdom between laughs, pour a glass and hang with us.Enjoyed the ride? Follow, rate five stars, and share with a friend who needs a new winter beer or a fresh Christmas watchlist. Your reviews help more listeners find the show.Support the showwww.anotherreasontodrink.com

With spiritual interest up globally but Bible engagement down, Steve Cleary of Revelation Media and the iBible app talks about a couple of resources for sharing the real, Biblical story of Jesus's birth through "The Real Story of Christmas" video and comic book.  Nathaniel Jeanson of Answers in Genesis, author of "They Had Names," talks about the people groups who lived in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans based on genetic and cultural markers.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Fluent Fiction - Danish: Finding Magic: The Quest for the Perfect Christmas Tree Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/da/episode/2025-11-20-23-34-02-da Story Transcript:Da: Mikkel nød den kolde luft i Møndrup Skoven.En: Mikkel enjoyed the cold air in Møndrup Skoven.Da: Det var slutningen af efteråret, og sneen begyndte så småt at dække jorden.En: It was the end of autumn, and the snow was just beginning to cover the ground.Da: Det var den perfekte dag til at finde et juletræ.En: It was the perfect day to find a Christmas tree.Da: Han havde sparet op for at kunne købe det bedste træ til sin familie.En: He had saved up to be able to buy the best tree for his family.Da: Ved hans side gik Lotte, hans barndomsveninde.En: Lotte, his childhood friend, walked by his side.Da: Hun havde et godt øje for at finde det rigtige.En: She had a good eye for finding the right one.Da: Markedsboderne var fyldt med mennesker.En: The market stalls were filled with people.Da: Der var duften af varm æblecider og ristede mandler i luften.En: There was the scent of warm apple cider and roasted almonds in the air.Da: Små julelys glimtede mellem grantræerne.En: Small Christmas lights twinkled among the fir trees.Da: Alt føltes magisk.En: Everything felt magical.Da: Mikkel og Lotte gik fra bod til bod, mens børn legede i sneen omkring dem.En: Mikkel and Lotte went from stall to stall while children played in the snow around them.Da: "Vi skal finde et perfekt træ," sagde Mikkel og så sig om.En: "We need to find a perfect tree," said Mikkel, looking around.Da: "Mor bliver så glad."En: "Mom will be so happy."Da: "Men se!"En: "But look!"Da: sagde Lotte og pegede.En: said Lotte, pointing.Da: "Jens har de bedste træer.En: "Jens has the best trees.Da: Lad os gå derhen."En: Let's go over there."Da: Jens stod midt i sin bod, smilende men travl.En: Jens stood in the middle of his stall, smiling but busy.Da: "Velkommen!En: "Welcome!Da: Kom og se vore fine træer," sagde han.En: Come and see our fine trees," he said.Da: Mikkel gik hen og så på de smukke, høje træer.En: Mikkel walked over and looked at the beautiful, tall trees.Da: Men de havde alle en høj pris.En: But they all had a high price.Da: Han talte sine penge.En: He counted his money.Da: Der var kun lige nok, men kun til et af de mindste træer.En: There was just enough, but only for one of the smallest trees.Da: Han sukkede og så sig om, håbede på noget bedre.En: He sighed and looked around, hoping for something better.Da: "Der er ikke meget tilbage," sagde Jens undskyldende.En: "There's not much left," said Jens apologetically.Da: "Det har været en travl dag."En: "It has been a busy day."Da: Mikkel overvejede sine muligheder.En: Mikkel considered his options.Da: Han kunne købe et stort, men dyrt træ, eller et mindre, billigere træ.En: He could buy a large, expensive tree, or a smaller, cheaper tree.Da: Det var svært at vælge.En: It was hard to choose.Da: Lotte lagde en hånd på hans skulder.En: Lotte placed a hand on his shoulder.Da: "Mikkel, husk at det vigtigste er, at det er specielt for dig og din familie."En: "Mikkel, remember that the most important thing is that it is special for you and your family."Da: Pludselig fangede et træ hans opmærksomhed.En: Suddenly, a tree caught his attention.Da: Det stod gemt bag nogle store træer.En: It was hidden behind some large trees.Da: Det var mindre, men smukt formet.En: It was smaller but beautifully shaped.Da: Han kunne allerede forestille sig, hvor fint det ville se ud hjemme.En: He could already imagine how lovely it would look at home.Da: Han smilede.En: He smiled.Da: "Det er den!"En: "That's the one!"Da: udbrød han.En: he exclaimed.Da: Mikkel købte træet og tog det med tilbage sammen med Lotte.En: Mikkel bought the tree and took it back with Lotte.Da: Da de nåede Mikkels hjem, pyntede de træet med kugler, lys og stjerner sammen med resten af Mikkels familie.En: When they reached Mikkel's home, they decorated the tree with ornaments, lights, and stars together with the rest of Mikkel's family.Da: Træet strålede i stuen.En: The tree shone in the living room.Da: Selvom det var mindre, var det perfekt.En: Although it was smaller, it was perfect.Da: Det viste, at det ikke altid handler om størrelsen, men om hvordan man gør det til sit eget.En: It showed that it isn't always about the size, but about how you make it your own.Da: Mikkel så på det lysende træ og mærkede glæden breder sig i rummet.En: Mikkel looked at the glowing tree and felt the joy spreading in the room.Da: Han lærte, at det perfekte øjeblik ofte er skjult i skønheden af det uventede.En: He learned that the perfect moment is often hidden in the beauty of the unexpected.Da: Juleaften nærmede sig, og det ville blive en af de bedste i Møndrup Skoven.En: Christmas Eve was approaching, and it would be one of the best in Møndrup Skoven. Vocabulary Words:enjoyed: nødcold: koldeautumn: efteråretbeginning: begyndtecover: dækkeground: jordenchildhood: barndomstall: bodscent: duftenroasted: ristedetwinkled: glimtedemagical: magiskperfect: perfektsurrounded: omkringsmiled: smilendeapologetically: undskyldendeconsidered: overvejedeoptions: mulighederimagine: forestillelovely: fintornaments: kuglerglowing: lysendespreading: brederunexpected: uventedeapproaching: nærmedejoy: glædenhidden: skjultexpensive: dyrtcheaper: billigeredecide: vælge

Fluent Fiction - Italian: A Heartfelt Christmas: Giovanni's Enchanted Market Find Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/it/episode/2025-11-20-08-38-20-it Story Transcript:It: Tra gli alberi colorati d'autunno, il mercato di Natale di Firenze appariva come un piccolo villaggio incantato.En: Among the autumn-colored trees, the mercato di Natale in Firenze appeared like a small enchanted village.It: Le luci scintillavano sopra le bancarelle di legno, e l'aria profumava di pino e spezie.En: The lights twinkled above the wooden stalls, and the air was scented with pine and spices.It: Giovanni camminava lentamente tra la folla, il cuore pesante.En: Giovanni walked slowly through the crowd, his heart heavy.It: Doveva trovare il regalo perfetto per Alessandra, sua sorella.En: He had to find the perfect gift for Alessandra, his sister.It: Un regalo speciale, pieno di affetto e ricordi.En: A special gift, full of affection and memories.It: La folla era sempre più numerosa.En: The crowd was becoming denser.It: Giovanni si sentiva perso tra i mille oggetti in vendita: tessuti colorati, artigianato, profumi di candele e dolciumi.En: Giovanni felt lost among the thousands of items for sale: colorful fabrics, crafts, candle fragrances, and sweets.It: Il suono delle risate e delle canzoni natalizie riempiva l'aria, ma lui era concentrato su un solo pensiero: il regalo giusto.En: The sound of laughter and Christmas songs filled the air, but he was focused on only one thought: the right gift.It: Giovanni si fermò davanti a una bancarella di ceramiche dipinte a mano.En: Giovanni stopped in front of a stall of hand-painted ceramics.It: I piatti e le tazze erano belli, ma non trasmettevano ciò che lui voleva dire.En: The plates and cups were beautiful, but they didn't convey what he wanted to say.It: Spostandosi più avanti, vide gioielli scintillanti sparsi su un tavolo di legno.En: Moving further ahead, he saw sparkling jewelry scattered on a wooden table.It: Anche lì, niente sembrava adatto.En: Even there, nothing seemed suitable.It: Una voce amichevole lo riportò alla realtà.En: A friendly voice brought him back to reality.It: "Ciao, tutto bene?"En: "Hi, everything okay?"It: era uno dei venditori, sorridendo calorosamente.En: asked one of the vendors, smiling warmly.It: Giovanni annuì, ringraziando per l'attenzione, ma sapeva che il tempo stringeva.En: Giovanni nodded, thanking him for his attention, but he knew that time was running out.It: Con un sospiro, pensò di andarsene senza comprare nulla.En: With a sigh, he thought of leaving without buying anything.It: Ma qualcosa lo fece fermare.En: But something made him stop.It: In fondo al mercato, una piccola bancarella quasi nascosta attirò la sua attenzione.En: At the end of the market, a small, almost hidden stall caught his attention.It: Sopra un tavolino coperto da un tappeto di velluto scuro, uno scrigno di legno massello conservava gioielli unici.En: On top of a small table covered by a dark velvet cloth, a solid wood box held unique jewelry.It: Tra questi, Giovanni notò un piccolo ciondolo a forma di cuore, intagliato con una delicatezza che gli ricordò un vecchio charm di sua madre.En: Among them, Giovanni noticed a small heart-shaped pendant, carved with a delicacy that reminded him of an old charm of their mother.It: Quel ciondolo conteneva ricordi d'infanzia.En: That pendant held childhood memories.It: Le passeggiate nel bosco con Alessandra, la raccolta delle foglie cadute e i segreti sussurrati sotto le stelle.En: Walks in the woods with Alessandra, collecting fallen leaves, and secrets whispered under the stars.It: Era perfetto.En: It was perfect.It: Con un sorriso timido, Giovanni chiese il prezzo.En: With a shy smile, Giovanni asked the price.It: Il venditore lo guardò, notando la sua emozione, e gli fece uno sconto proprio per la gioia stampata sul suo viso.En: The vendor looked at him, noticing his emotion, and gave him a discount just for the joy printed on his face.It: Con il ciondolo in mano, avvolto in un morbido panno, Giovanni si sentì finalmente sollevato e felice.En: With the pendant in hand, wrapped in a soft cloth, Giovanni finally felt relieved and happy.It: Camminando verso l'uscita del mercato, il suo cuore era leggero.En: Walking towards the market exit, his heart was light.It: Aveva trovato il regalo perfetto.En: He had found the perfect gift.It: Il giorno di Natale, quando Alessandra aprì il suo piccolo pacchetto e vide il ciondolo, il suo sorriso fu la conferma di tutto.En: On Christmas day, when Alessandra opened her small package and saw the pendant, her smile was confirmation of everything.It: Lei lo abbracciò forte, il gesto non aveva bisogno di parole.En: She hugged him tightly; the gesture needed no words.It: Sentiva l'amore e la gratitudine del fratello.En: She felt her brother's love and gratitude.It: Giovanni imparò che non era il valore materiale del regalo, ma il significato e l'affetto dietro a renderlo speciale.En: Giovanni learned that it wasn't the material value of the gift, but the meaning and affection behind it that made it special.It: Ora era sicuro: i piccoli gesti e i ricordi univano la sua famiglia più di qualsiasi altra cosa.En: Now he was sure: the small gestures and memories united his family more than anything else.It: E questo Natale le luci scintillavano un po' di più, riscaldate dall'affetto fra fratelli.En: And this Christmas, the lights twinkled a little more, warmed by the affection between siblings. Vocabulary Words:the market: il mercatoenchanted: incantatothe lights: le lucitwinkled: scintillavanothe stalls: le bancarellescented: profumavathe spices: le speziedense: numerosathe crafts: l'artigianatothe laughter: le risatethe ceramics: le ceramichehand-painted: dipinte a manoto convey: trasmetterethe jewelry: i gioiellithe vendor: il venditoreshy: timidothe discount: lo scontothe heart: il cuorethe charm: il charmthe memories: i ricordicarved: intagliatodelicacy: delicatezzathe walks: le passeggiatethe woods: il boscoto whisper: sussurrarethe stars: le stellethe table: il tavolinothe cloth: il pannowrapped: avvoltothe siblings: i fratelli

Advent season is about “waiting in anticipation” for Jesus' coming. In the Western world, we wait by throwing Christmas parties, buying presents, and trying to avoid the hustle and bustle. But instead of trying to avoid, what if we tried to embrace? It's one thing to avoid, it's quite another to step into something with intention. In this episode, Josh and Christi share ways of embracing presence this Christmas — both with your spouse and kids, and with God as well. They cover some key highlights from their Advent book for families, The 25 Days of the Christmas Story, and also talk about what's coming for Tender & Fierce in 2026!Time Stamps: 0:00 Introduction and 25 Days of Christmas Story4:50 What's coming up for the podcast6:15 Christi updates on Tender & Fierce and what's coming for 202615:08 Embracing presence this Christmas20:50 Ideas for helping your kids experience God's presence this ChristmasShow Notes: Get 25 Days of the Christmas Story! https://amzn.to/49kHiO1Buy 25 Days of the Christmas Story in bulk: https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/25-days-of-the-christmas-story-P005829480Register for Tender & Fierce 2026! https://www.famousathome.com/tenderandfierceSign up for our email list and Famous at Home Starter Bundle: https://www.famousathome.com/newsletter Want a marriage you love? Fill out this form: https://www.famousathome.com/loveyourmarriage Download NONAH's single Find My Way Home by clicking here: https://bellpartners.ffm.to/findmywayhome

Tap here to listen ad-free (free trial, cancel any time)Jeffery and Heather are very kind but have nothing. To their amazement some friendly elves help them out. Email: hello@funfablespodcast.comWebsite: www.funfablespodcast.com Created and produced by: Horseplay ProductionsNarrated by: The Narrator ManFor Big Bad Wolf T-shirts and FREE colouring in pictures visit www.funfablespodcast.com... And if your looking for something more relaxing at bedtime why not try Fun Fables: Sleepy time Stories Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the characters of the Christmas Story.

Have you ever wondered how does Santa make all the toys? How does he keep track of the naughty and nice list? Where is his village located? In today's episode, I'm reading the cozy children's story "Lill's Travels In Santa Claus Land" by Ellis Towne, Sophie May, and Ella Farman. In this charming story from 1878, a young girl named Lill discovers the magical Santa Claus Land and finds the answer to these questions and more! This is the perfect story to put you in the mood for Christmas. If you would like to read more stories by these authors, you can find the collection online for free at: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20112/20112-h/20112-h.htm    Ways to support the show: Rate and review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-cozy-christmas-podcast/id1523423375  Buy me a coffee? www.ko-fi.com/cozychristmas  Ornaments, Mugs, and Notebooks: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CozyChristmasPodcast  Logo shirt designs: http://tee.pub/lic/edygC_h4D1c    Contact Me: facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cozychristmaspodcast  instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cozychristmaspodcast/  twitter: https://twitter.com/CozyXmasPod  youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCikiozEbu0h9pKeI1Ei5TQ email: cozychristmaspodcast@gmail.com       #podcast #Christmas #christmaspodcast #christmasstory #victorianchristmas 

Actor Peter Billingsley and A Christmas Story; So Long, Penny!; Cars into building doc?; Wing It Wednesday with Matt Williams and Jamie Hudson from Troy City Skate Park Unite.

One More Thing 11-13-25 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week is presented by "Dial It Back", available now on Prime Video. This episode is sponsored by Cozy Earth! Use promo code HALLMARK to get 40% off at cozyearth.com--Brian is back to review a brand-new holiday movie that fans have been buzzing about: Christmas Above the Clouds. Featuring the return of an Erin Krakow and Tyler Hynes pairing, this movie is a little Christmas magic at 30,000 feet.ABOUT CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDSWorkaholic CEO Ella Neezer tries to skip Christmas by boarding a flight to Australia. But her plan takes an unexpected turn when she is visited by three quirky spirits representing her past, present, and future — and she finds herself face-to-face with her ex-fiancé Jake. As Ella navigates these encounters, she's forced to confront the choices that prioritized success over connection, ultimately rediscovering love, compassion, and the true meaning of Christmas.AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDSNovember 8, 2025 | Hallmark ChannelCAST & CREW OF CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDSErin Krakow as Ella NeezerTyler Hynes as JakeDirected by Peter BensonBRAN'S CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE CLOUDS SYNOPSISMeet Ella Neezer — a certified holiday grump. She runs a fancy-pants travel company and all of her employees hate her. It's Christmas Eve, but she could not care less. The new ad campaign isn't good enough and she wants improvements by the 26th. “I'm not saying you have to work on Christmas… it just has to be better by then.” Very chill.Ella and her assistant Bobbi head to the airport to catch a flight to Australia so Ella can skip Christmas entirely — even though Bobbi has a son, Tim, that she'd clearly rather be home with. On the way, Ella's sister calls trying to convince her to come home for Christmas. Absolutely not. Ella looks at a photo of her mentor, Marlene Jacobson, and for a second it looks like Marlene is moving. Weird, but let's brush that off.At the airport, Ella bumps into her ex-boyfriend Jake — the one she broke up with six years ago today. Even worse? He's seated right next to her on the plane.The plane takes off and suddenly things get spooky. Lights flicker. Window shades go up and down. And then — Marlene Jacobson appears on the seat-back screen to haunt her. She announces that Ella will be visited by three spirits. Buckle up, bucko.Ella falls asleep and is woken by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who is obviously a flight attendant. She shoves Ella out of the plane (casual) and Ella lands in her own childhood. She sees herself and her sister stuck at boarding school over Christmas. Then she jumps to college, where she meets young Jake, the cute librarian who gives her his scarf. They were happy once! Next, she sees an old company Christmas party — back when her employees liked her — and she and Jake are very in love. We get a memory montage: years together. He even proposes at Christmas. But as her career ramps up under Marlene, Ella gets busier, misses more time, and eventually the relationship breaks. She watches herself end it, placing the ring down. Finally, she sees herself snapping at Bobbi last year when Bobbi needed to rush home to her sick son. It hurts.Ella wakes back up on the plane and apologizes to Jake for all the Christmases she worked through. She could have done better.Then comes the Ghost of Christmas Present, who takes her to a bar where her employees are having their own mini Christmas party — and talking about how much they dislike her. Ouch. They visit Ella's sister's house, where her sister wishes Ella could just share in the joy. Ella sticks around long enough to remember how fun Christmas used to be. They visit Jake's charity, which is thriving. There's a woman clearly into him. Ella is jealous. They stop by his old friends' annual “Dive Bar Christmas” — the tradition Ella used to love. She misses those days. Then they visit Bobbi's house — Tim is sick with asthma, and the family resents Ella… until Tim says he's thankful for Miss Neezer because the job helps afford his medicine. Ella is crushed.Back to the plane she goes. Bobbi's asleep, so Ella goes to talk to Jake instead.Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives. Ella sees her employees talking like someone is gone — but who? At her sister's house, everyone is dressed in black. Jake shows up with flowers. Someone has died. Eventually, Ella realizes Jake gave up on love. Then she sees Bobbi's home. Tim's chair is empty. And then — she sees her own grave. She's devastated, begging for a chance to change.Suddenly — she's back on the plane. The flight has landed in Utah due to engine trouble. Coincidentally, her sister lives in Utah. It's Christmas morning (technically 1 AM).Ella snaps into action. She tells Bobbi she's getting a promotion, double salary, the best health insurance imaginable, and a first-class flight home to be with Tim. Bobbi is stunned.Ella and Jake go to breakfast. Ella tells him she doesn't want to go through life alone — especially not without him. She apologizes — sincerely. They slow dance. He dips her. They kiss BIG ONES.They surprise her sister. Ella apologizes for not being the sister she should have been. They spend Christmas together. Jake tells Ella he loves her. She tells him she's always loved him — some might say it was always you. They kiss again.Bobbi FaceTimes. Tim says, “God bless us, everyone.”The end.

Today On With Mario Lopez – We breakdown the Goop holiday gift guide, get to a 90's themed random question, details on how you can actually stay at the ' A Christmas Story' house, the latest buzz and much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptWell, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are working our way through our membership commitment. Normally we're working our way through books of the Bible. We are taking this season as a church family to say, hey, let's remember the things that we've committed together and let's recommit to these. We have a membership commitment. It looks like this. It's a one sheet piece of paper. It's got 14 points on it. It is intentionally simple. We are saying, hey, we believe the Bible and we're going to practice the things that the Bible calls us to. And this is some of how we're going to practice that together. The first ones are just, the first seven are things that we believe that we hold to, to be true. Number eight says, I actually believe that. I'm going to go apply that. And then from there on we're saying, this is how we're going to practice that here.If you are a Christian, you should belong to a local church that has some authority in your life. You, you should be around Christians who you are beholden to, to walk out the things of what it looks like to be a Christian. And this is just us saying, this is how we're going to try to practice that together. Here we've made it to point number 12 of 14 and we are turning and saying, this is what it looks like as we kind of face outward as we work as missionaries together. I don't know if you know this and hopefully by the end of the day it'll be clear, but if you belong to Jesus, you are on his mission, you're a part of his mission, which means that you are a missionary out in a mission field. Do you know that? Well, now you do. Some of you are foreign missionaries. Welcome. Please help these Americans meet Jesus. Some of you are like, I didn't move anywhere. I'm not a missionary. I grew up here. It's like, well, you did grow up here, but that doesn't make you not a missionary. That just means God has you here for you to be a part of his work here. And so we're going to look at that together.I'm going to pray and we'll read number 12 and then we'll start seeing, where does the Bible say this, how does the Bible say this? And how do we practice this together? Lord, we ask for your to bless our time. We ask for you to empower your word. We ask that we would actually, as we follow you and walk in the Spirit, do these things so that so more people might come to know you in Jesus name. Amen.So number 12 says this. Empowered by the Spirit and partnering with my community group, I will obey Christ's call in everyday life to advance his mission of redemption by proclaiming the Gospel and making disciples. That's why we call it our membership commitment. We are committing two things. Let me read that again. Empowered by the Spirit, partnering with my community group, I will obey Christ's call in everyday life to advance his mission of redemption by proclaiming the Gospel and making disciples. That center phrase there, his mission of redemption is kind of what everything else is built into coming out of that. Jesus has a mission of redemption that he came to redeem sinners, to rescue, to make them whole, and that we're on this where John chapter 20, verse 21, he says to his disciples,> Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."So the church, his disciples are sent out the same way that he was sent. We're joining him in his mission. This is the way Paul puts it in second Corinthians says,> All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.That what Jesus was doing was there was a lost world of people who were in rebellion and sin and Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sin. That he rose again so that we might have forgiveness and life. And there's forgiveness proclaimed in his name and hidden through his death. He is reconciling the world back to himself. That the gap between us and God because of our sin and rebellion is paid for. And then it says, he's given us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, meaning there's a way for us to find forgiveness through the work of Jesus and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. That that message has been given to the Church. This is why we say when we finish up on Sunday mornings and we're about to leave, we remind ourselves of this mission, this message, and we repeat consistently the Church's plan A for this message to go forward. There is no plan B. We've been entrusted with a ministry of reconciliation. We've been entrusted with the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal for through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. We're sent with a message to implore, to plead, to call people to be reconciled. This is something that we're Commissioned to go do this has been given to the church. We're joining him in this mission.So let's go back to that first phrase, empowered by the Spirit. Partnering with my community group. Now, that's tagging back to some of the things we've already said in our membership commitment, that we're empowered by the Spirit, we're equipped for mission and service. I will say this briefly. If you are a Christian and you're like, I just want to know what it's like to walk in the Spirit. I want to know and live in the Spirit, then you have to do the things of the Spirit. And you have to do things that you need the Spirit for. You have to go and join him in mission and service. And then the Spirit empowers that. The Spirit does not empower eating Doritos and watching football. There are things that we partake in in life that we don't need to lean into the Spirit for now, sometimes the Spirit empowers you, repenting of how many Doritos you ate. He helps us with self control, but he's not empowering some of the things that we're partaking in. And if we want to walk in the Spirit, we're supposed to join him in this. And so we're saying, I'm empowered by the Spirit. I'm going to. Then we put partnering with my community group.We yesterday had our fall festival. In a few weeks, we'll start our Give series, our Give project, together as a church. And that's really it. As far as the things that we say, hey, our whole church is going to go do this together. We very rarely say, hey, we want our whole church to go do this. Most of the time, our groups are just serving and working and laboring alongside of each other. So we have groups that serve at homeless shelters and groups that have partnered to feed people and work on houses or build wheelchair ramps or groups that are hosting parties intentionally to welcome people who don't know Jesus. We have groups all over the place doing things all the time. Every once in a while, we'll say, hey, this group bit off a little more than they can chew. And if other groups would like to join them, they sure would appreciate that because they got excited and committed to some things that are kind of expensive, labor intensive. They're going to get after it. But we'd love for two or three groups to partner with them. But most of the time, it's just your group. What are you gifted in? What are you good at? And y' all are partnering Together. And the mission is served by us going together. So that's what we're saying. We're going to do this.In this context, I will obey Christ's call. This is not an optional thing. It is a matter of obedience. Matthew 28. Jesus, after his resurrection, he says he came and said to them,> And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."He's talking to his disciples. Go, therefore, and make disciples. Okay? So he says, go do with them what I've done with you. Go make disciples. Go equip people. Do exactly what I've been doing with you. You're going to go do that with them. And then he says, of all nations, at this point, he had 11 disciples. It's a big ask of 11 guys. There's an assumption baked into this that as they make disciples, those disciples are going to go make disciples. That this is something that's given to all of those who are going to be brought into this. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. So it's for the entire earth until the end of the age. It's given to the disciples who are going to make more disciples, who are going to follow in this and continue. Which means that if you belong to Jesus, you are a part of the gospel going forward to the nations. Because this was not said in English, but it's made it here now. And if you belong to Jesus, you're here now as a part of this effort to join in.What does it look like to make disciples now, there are times in the Bible where someone is set aside for a specific purpose. We see that in Acts, chapter 13, there's a church, they're praying, and the Spirit specifically while they're praying and fasting, says, send Paul and Barnabas out to go do this, what I've asked them to do. So some people are going to stay and help send, and some people are going to go. That happens in Galatians. Paul talks about he has a ministry specifically to Gentiles, just like Peter has a ministry specific to Jewish people. That happens. My grandparents were missionaries to Nigeria. They learned Yoruba, trained to do medical work, and went and lived in Obama Shah to be missionaries. Which means that by learning Yoruba and moving to a Bomasha, they didn't learn Arabic and move to Lebanon. It's pretty straightforward. Seems Pretty self explanatory. But Ben Johnson, who is a part of our church and helps run 1040 Hope for the 1040 window, was in a class in Bible school and they were talking about the unreached people in the Islamic world. And he said he went back to his dorm and he wept at the idea that there were so many people following Islam, following Muhammad and not Christians. So he learned Arabic and moved to lebanon and started 1040 Hope. He works here now, helping send and equip missionaries. Sometimes people are set aside for specific tasks. But no matter where you are, where God has you, you're called to this, you're called to help send, and you're called to participate in this mission field, in this mission work, that we're a part of his mission of redemption. And I praise Jesus that there are people in Cayce and West Columbia and Irmo and Columbia that are here that know Jesus and are trying to reach people who don't know Jesus. So that's what we're saying, is that we're going to participate.That's what Romans 10 says. He just said,> For "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"Somebody's got to go. Somebody's got to sin. Somebody's got to go. Somebody's got to say it so that they can hear it. Once they hear it, then they can believe. Once they believe, then they can call on him. But Paul says none of that happens if we aren't going and we aren't talking. So that's where we come to what we're committing to, which is that we're going to practice this in everyday life, that in your normal everyday life, you're going to take the call to Christ's mission seriously. We're going to be mindful of it, active in it, aware of it.So what we're going to do for the rest of our time is we're going to look at where Paul talks about this in Colossians. There's a lot of places we could go, but we're going to go to Colossians chapter four and we're just going to look and kind of walk through the way he says it, what he says, and try to grow together. And what does this actually look like, how do you be what we call everyday missionaries? How do I do that? What does that look like? So let's read Colossians 4.> Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.So that's what he says, I want you to be in prayer. Then he says, at the same time. So while you're praying, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the Word to declare the mystery of Christ. But that would be the first thing, is to be praying for an opening for the Word. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the Word. And now he's specifically saying, pray that for us. But he's told them to be praying. And it would be a good thing for us to be praying for ourselves as well. For you to be praying for your group, for us to be praying for our church, that there would be an opening for the Gospel.So we start there. If you are going, how do I be in everyday mission? I don't even know where to begin. You begin by asking the Lord, give me opportunities, open a door, help me to be in the right spot, help me to meet the right person. Help there to be a window for this. You begin to pray for the people on your shift. You begin to pray for the people on your road. You begin to pray for the people who work out at the same gym. You begin to pray, Lord, may there be an opening. May there be an opportunity. May you give me, put me in the right place. I know somebody who used to say they would pray, lord, you fill my plate. You just be the one who puts on my plate what I have today. And you're asking, lord, put me in a place where I can share the gospel. So we start by praying. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that. We've got more things we're going to spend a little more time on. But we begin there. We begin by praying.Then he says that we may declare the mystery, which means that part of being an everyday missionary is that at some point we have to open our mouths and see the gospel. I said that. My grandparents were missionaries in Nigeria. They went as medical missionaries. My granddad actually became an obstetrician, an OB GYN because they said we need more OB GYNs to go do mission work. Which means that primarily what he did with his time was helped run a hospital, deliver babies. He would ride a bicycle around and help give out vaccinations. And he passed away this past November. And I was looking through his journal of his time there. And the very first page says, as you go preach, it's a reference to Matthew 10. You go to the next page and he talks about, I know I'm going to do mission work to medical mission work. I know I'm going to help run a hospital. But as I'm on my rounds and as I go village to village, I'm there to tell them about Jesus. He understood that it wasn't just the work of serving people who needed real, tangible earthly needs met. It wasn't just the in breaking of the kingdom, in a kindness and a service for the sake of healthy born babies, but that he was there to be able to articulate the gospel. And without an articulation of the gospel, it's incomplete. So we want your group to serve at a soup kitchen. We want your group to host a party. We want your group to do whatever it is in front of you that you're gifted to do. We want you to go be a part of a prison ministry. But we want, as you do these things, to love others, that you would articulate the gospel because at some point we have to declare it.Which brings us to the next thing that Paul says, which I'm very thankful that he says it. He says, pray also for us so there'd be a door open that we may declare the mystery of Christ and that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. The reason I love that is because Paul was aware that there were times where he had tried to share the gospel and it was unclear. There were times where the Apostle Paul was like, oh my gosh, I rabbit trailed all over the place. What was I even? How did I get from here to there? Or I made that way too complicated, Or I jumped this thing. Like I'm so thankful that he's aware this is something that I should practice, prepare in. That's what Peter says. Be prepared to give an answer. Which this means is one if you think, well, I'm not good at it. I tried that and I did a poor job. Cool. You're in a club with the Apostle Paul. That doesn't mean that there's some people who are just always good at it and some people who aren't. It means that this is a normal thing when you're trying to articulate the gospel to people, that you might mess it up a little bit. You might not exactly know where to what to say next. But it also means that we should pray about this and get better at it. You should work on how to clearly articulate the gospel.So I'm going to give you a starting place for that. This is where I think you should start. If you're like, I don't know how to share the gospel with somebody. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Pray and then do this. These are my starting places for you. I'm going to walk you through these briefly, and then I'll show you a little bit of how they work. First is if you're like, I don't even know where to go. In the Bible, if somebody walked over to you and said, hey, will you share the gospel with me? Where does the Bible say this? And you're like, okay, hold on. And you just. Romans Road is what people call it. But it's just verses in the book of Romans that clearly articulate it. And you can just kind of go to the book of Romans and work your way through. So it's Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 8:1, and 10:9. You can do 10, 9 all the way up to 13 if you want.> For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.> But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.> For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.> There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.> If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.You can do 10, 9 all the way up to 13 if you want. Romans 3:23 says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Five, eight says that Christ loved us in that while we were still sinners, he died for us. 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. So you're going to say you're a sinner. There's hope because he loves us enough to die for us while we're sinners. There is the wages of sin. What you've earned your wage, your paycheck for sin is death. But there's a gift that's in Christ. Then Romans 8 says, there's no more condemnation for those who are in Christ. So that if you're in Christ, if you actually belong to him, then you don't get the wages of sin, but you get this gift of eternal life. You get no condemnation. And then 10, 9 says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So then you get to go to Romans 10, 9 and say, do you believe that? Do you want that? Do you want to trust him? Do you want to confess? And it's just a way to say clearly a picture of the Gospel. So if you have nowhere, start there, learn at least the references so you can get a Bible out and show them. You have your phone in your pocket. Get a Bible app. That's a good place to Start.The other ones are concepts. There's a lot of people around you who do not know the basic storyline of the Bible. They think they do, or they think that we've all collectively moved on past Jesus and they don't need to know this information. It used to be you could start off by assuming people knew that the Bible, the basic storyline of the Bible, and you could start with just you're a sinner. And sometimes that would connect with people. But now a lot of people don't even know the basic storyline of the Bible. This is the basic storyline of the Bible. Creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Creation is that God made the world good. And we see this. You can connect with people on this all the time. There's a lot of really beautiful, wonderful things out in the world. Flavors, you guys. God designed the world and he made it to where food gets to taste good. That was nice of him. He didn't have to do that, but he made food good. Some chilies win awards. There's flavor, there's good, there's beauty in the world. Then there's the fall, which is that our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, they rebelled against God and the curse enters the world and the world is broken. And we can see that clearly too, that there's so much wrong in the world. And some of the reasons it's so painfully wrong is because how beautiful it was or how much promise it held or how it could have been great if it weren't for blank. So it's creation and fall are seen clearly all the time. Redemption is that Jesus comes to fix that. He comes to reclaim the garden. He comes to buy back the people in rebellion. That there's this storyline of redemption. And actually we're all trying to live that out. We're all looking for something to fix the problem. And we're told that Christ is the only one who can. And restoration is that at some point all the sin and all the evil and all the brokenness is gone and it's fixed. There's no death, there's no pain, there's no suffering. That's the basic storyline of the Bible. And everybody's living in that storyline, whether they know it or not. We'll talk a little bit later about how to filter that into conversations, but I just wanted you to give the concept.The next one, which is more of a zoomed in version of the same kind of thing, is that there's a functional hell, a functional savior, and a functional heaven. So this is, if I'm trying to talk to somebody. And I'm trying to filter in these basic concepts. Functional hell is just whatever's really broken in your life at this moment. Or what would be the worst thing, the thing of nightmares that's chasing you down. There's something that is just, if I get stuck in this, it'll be awful. And then functional heaven is where that's not the case anymore. And so your functional savior is whatever gets you out of functional hell and into functional heaven. Functional meaning practical, current. Let me give you an example. You might have a co worker or a friend who grew up really poor and poverty for them is their functional health. They might be currently really poor. And that's all that, that's affecting them in life. They just don't have the money to handle the next thing that's coming. And so they're constantly talking about their functional heaven, which is, if I just had enough money, I'd be fine, then I'd be okay, everything would be fixed. And so their functional savior is their job that they currently have. But this could be as someone who's not poor anymore. It could be someone who's currently in the middle of poverty and fighting it. But their job, they want the job. They have some vague future job. Like they're just, they've got something that's going to get them from point A to point B. And as we're listening to them and relating to them, we have opportunities to understand. Well, actually Jesus is a better answer for these things. He's a more complete answer. He's actually a real response these things. Like he works in all this stuff to undo all of this and we have the ability to begin to speak in. So I'm going to give you examples of that in just a second. But let's keep following what he says so that you would make it clear and you'd learn some of these basic things. I think that's a good place to start. And again, like I said, I'm gonna show you two examples or some examples of the how that works in a conversation in just a moment when we get there, alright?Verse 5. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders making the best use of the time. So he says, be praying for an open opening for the gospel, that we might declare it, that we might make it clear. And then he looks at the church and says, walk in wisdom towards outsiders making the best use of those are those people who are outside of Christ that you should use your wisdom, ingenuity, intentionality for the sake of. How do I relate to people who don't know Jesus, and that you should make good use of the time. So when we talk about being an everyday missionary, this is some of what this means practically for us. We don't do a lot of things in this building. We meet on Sundays. We meet in community groups. We want you to walk in church, family. We don't have a ton of things on our calendar. This is a constant thing. When we go to add anything to the calendar, we sit and debate whether or not we should ever have anything on a calendar. We know that meeting and doing things is good, but, boy, we don't like it every time we plan something. It's just your pastors, just so you know. We don't want things on the calendar because we don't want you having a whole bunch of things to do here and missing out on being in the places where the people are that don't know Jesus.There are a lot of churches in this city. If someone wants to come follow Jesus, if they're looking for Christ, they'll come. They can show up. But there are a whole lot of people who do not want to be here. No, thank you. They don't want to come to your group meeting. They don't want to show up on Sunday. We have to go where they are. So we want you to coach a Little League team, join a bowling league. We want you to go be out in the world around people who don't know Jesus for the sake of being a missionary. So when we talk about making the best use of the time, what we'll do with people. I've done it consistently being a pastor here is we'll sit down and just go, hey, what time do you wake up in the morning? What time do you go to bed? What happens in between? What does Sunday look like? What does Monday look like? What does Tuesday look like? What's your schedule? What's your job? Because it's possible that you work out four days a week and you see the same people repeatedly. Okay, learn their name. Start praying for them. Take your headphones out, Start talking to people. And you might say, well, that's weird. Okay, be weird for the sake of people knowing Christ. Some of you work jobs where someone is stuck with you 40 hours a week. The only way to get away from you is to quit. And they need this job. So start praying for them and start talking to them. And start asking for openings for the gospel to make the best use of your time, we say things like, don't go eat in your car. Eat in the break room. If someone invites you To a thing, go to it. And you can complain to the Lord. You can lament to him. You can say, lord, I'm going to be really stressed out. I'm not going to know anybody. This is going to be really hard. And then you can say, so empower me with the spirit. Help me to get over that. Help me to go have a good time. Help me to make a friend. Open the door for the opportunity. Let me find the other person who's standing around awkwardly. I'll go talk to them and then go, we don't want to have a church kickball team. We want you to go join a kickball team with pagans and become real friends with them so that you might share the gospel with them.So if you look at your schedule and you go, I work from home. I don't have any roommates. I'm not in class with anybody. I don't know anybody. Then we just start going, okay, well, then you've got to get creative to make the best use of your time. And we'll help you plot on that. And you can talk to your group. But also you might say, I don't know anybody. I don't know how to make a friend. I've never made a friend in my life. Then we would say, join a community group. Those people have to be your friends. Step one. And then ask the people in that group, who are your friends? I'm gonna need to hang out with you. I want to join you in what you're doing. I tell my group this all the time, but if you invite someone to lunch and they'll go to lunch with you, you can just bring someone from our group to that lunch. They can't stop you. You can just be like, oh, so good to see you. Also got Logan to join us. Have a seat. What are they going to say? I thought it was just going to be us. They're not going to say that. And now they know someone else in your group. You're going out of your way to make the best use of the time. You're working together. Like, we get to do these things. But you're trying to think through, who am I around, where am I at, who's stuck with me, and how do I get to be on mission with Jesus there? Because those people need to know Christ, and we want you there. We want you to gather with us on Sunday, study the Bible, pray together. We want you to get with your group. This is why we have a review, the mission section where we're trying to talk through how's it going? What are you doing? Praying with each other, thinking it through. But then we want you out doing this. Okay? Making the best use of time.Then he says, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Okay, Ought to answer, meaning that there is a. We are things that we're supposed to be saying. We already know that. So there are things that we should be including in conversations that we have conversations where we should be gracious, grace filled conversations and seasoned with salt. I don't think that means just be interesting. You know, he's not just like, bam, flavor your conversations up. I think he's saying be intentional about how you speak to people making the best use of the time to declare the gospel.You know how like 95% of news anchors have worked to have this like generic American accent? Like they, they've gotten good at it, they practiced it, they just have neutral American. I think that most of us also have a practiced neutral American way that we talk to people who are not Christians. That if someone asked you who was in your community group that you've been walking with, trying to follow Jesus, if they said, hey, you know, I'm about to get married, do you have any advice? You might say something like, well, Ephesians 5 says, Matthew 19 says, here's one of the things we know as we follow Jesus, you might just. But if someone at work says, you got any marriage advice? I think a lot of us are more likely to jokingly quote a movie before we are to talk about anything that has to do with Christ because we know what we're supposed to do, have our generic American answers. Stop that. I've told this story a lot, but it was pivotal for me in my trying to figure out how to do this. I was in seminary. I was working at Sears selling appliances and yes, Fortune 500 company. You're right. It was a very excellent place to be. I'm not trying to brag. All right. Anyway, just trying to make ends meet. Was working there. And there was a guy I worked with who we would just be talking about, whatever, shift slow, or just having discussions about sports, money, life, whatever. And he would consistently say, well, I'm a Muslim, so we. I'm a Muslim, so I. Well, the Quran says he just did this all the time, all the time. And I had known him for months. And then suddenly one day I was like, wait a second, I can do the same thing. He's been teaching me Islam for like three Months. And I can be saying, well, I'm a Christian, so we believe I'm a Christian. So the Bible says I'm a Christian. And just applying it to me, that was part of it. He was just applying it to himself. He was just telling me, here's why I would think about it this way, because this is what I'm taught. And every time, I just found it interesting just listening to him, being slightly discipled at work on how to be a good Muslim. That's what I was doing. And I was like, this is. This is excellent. I can do this. So I started just responding, well, I'm a Christian, so we believe this, we think this. And it's a way to just incorporate it. It's pretty neutral. I'm just talking about myself, but I'm getting to articulate the gospel. I'm getting to articulate how the Bible influences my choices. I'm getting to have my conversation seasoned with salt.All right, let's talk through some of. Like, if you're thinking, okay, I want to do this. I want to figure out how to get this into conversations. It feels really weird, feels really hard. I want you to understand that this is some spiritual warfare stuff. The enemy doesn't want you to do this. There are some opposition things to this. It's not going to be the easiest thing. You're going to feel tense, adrenaline. You're going to have to lean into the spirit for this. All that's true, but I also want to just give you some practical things to consider and ways to apply some of this. I want to tell you a story about. I don't think I'm the best at this, but I trying to relate some of the stories, some ways that I've seen this work and some of the ways that I've been able to have this conversation.There was a guy who was putting in a panel at my house, and he was struggling. He's on, like, his fourth hole that he had drilled into the wall. He's over there, I mean, fighting it. And he's got some work to do to fix the problems he's causing at my house and to do the thing. But he's made more problems since he got here. He hadn't even done the thing he was supposed to do. That's what he was doing. But, y', all, he's stuck at my house. He can't leave unless he wants to quit his job. So I'm like, well, I better make the best use of the time. I have no real desire to like, talk to him. Just so, personal. If you're like, my personality is not like yours. My personality is to go live in the woods. My wife and I daydream about that. What if we just lived somewhere and didn't know people? We've gotten over it. We love y' all dearly, but we've had to work to get past that. And some days, we still want the woods, you guys. But I'm going, okay, I gotta. He's here. Let me try to, you know. And so what I said to him, I did. Creation, fall, redemption, restoration. I said, man's it fighting you? He's like, you know, he's trying not to be like, I'm ruining your house. But he was like, yeah, it's not going great. And I said, yeah, you know, I'm a Christian. And the Bible starts off. It says that God created the world and it was beautiful and that Adam and Eve rebelled. And it tells us that because Adam rebelled, work is cursed. So it's always like this, man. Most of the work, I always find that most of the work I'm doing, I can get 80% of it done in 20% of the time. And then I have, like, one screw that. I fight for four hours and go to Lowe's six times. And it takes it because it's cursed. It fights me. I was like. And that's one of the things that I think is wonderful about being a Christian is it says, jesus has come to redeem all this, to fix all this, and one day, it's not going to be a thing anymore. We ended up having a bit of a conversation out of that, but it was just. Anywhere there's brokenness, anywhere there's beauty, we can connect to creation and fall. And this happens all the time. We see beauty all the time. These are things that people point out to you all the time. They'll point out beauty to you all the time. Look at how wonderful that is. And we get to respond. Yeah, you know, I'm a Christian. The Bible says God designed all of this good and beautiful. And it's the beginnings of a conversation. It's seasoned a little bit. Somebody points out brokenness to you. They do this all the time. This is the worst. This is awful. Can you believe this? Yeah, I can. We've entered into a conversation about the fall. I can enter right into that. The Bible has a lot to say about fear and doubt and injustice and brokenness. And it also has a lot to say about the person who fixes that. The hope that we have to think through the functional savior thing.I had a friend who, the more I knew him, a big part of his story was how broken his home life was growing up. And it just factored really big in his life. Makes sense. And then he would daydream and he would talk about like his, his whole hope. The storyline of his life was get married, white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and not do the stuff my parents did. He was on a redemption arc. And so in that story, he has a functional hell and he has a functional heaven. So I can start listening for what's his functional savior. Some of it was him being a good father was going to come later, but it also was whoever he was dating at the time was going to take him from hell to heaven. Which meant a couple of things. He was going to put either way too much pressure on this person because he needs them to save him, or he was going to be too excited about the concept, the prospect of who this person was. That he was going to overlook a lot of things because this was his chance and it could be really bad, but he was just going to let it be really bad because this is going to be. Because it's not the reality of the situation, it's what it represents. And so I now, knowing the gospel, knowing this person, knowing their story, have ways to begin to fit in. Hey, man. I can agree with him on the brokenness. I can agree with him that this is good, but I can't agree with him that it'll fix everything. There actually is a better family and a better hope and an eternal one. And there's a better savior who actually can undo this in his heart in a way that this can't. She can't. There's a God who can speak to these things that are broken deep inside of him that she can't, won't ever be able to. And the expectations of that will crush her. So I have the ability to begin to speak in because I understand functional health, functional savior, functional heaven. And so this is a helpful way for you to begin to listen to the people that you're around and try to understand what are they thinking will fix this? What are they thinking will make this better? What are they thinking will save me? What do they think is broken? What do they think would be good? I had someone who's group leader in our church recently say this has been one of the biggest benefits of being in a community group for them is that we're consistently sharing the gospel with one another in our groups and it helped him understand how to do that at work, how to apply the gospel to all these different situations, how to begin to speak the gospel in all these different situations in a way that made sense.Okay, so we're going to turn off generic American responses. We're going to be praying for the Lord to give us some opening. We're going to have some mental preparation on how the general storyline works. We're going to begin listening for these things. And then here's what we're going to do. We're going to make some conversations kind of awkward, but not terribly awkward. But you actually have openings for these types of conversations all the time. Because people constantly ask you to agree with them. Constantly. They talk and talk and talk and then they say, right, you know what I'm saying? Isn't that what you would do? Don't you think? And how often have you listened to someone say things that no, I don't think. No, not right. No, that's not what I would do. And how many times have I just gone. Does that just. Why do I need to get in the middle of this mess? I'm like the kid in Christmas Story who just goes football even though he wants a red Rider carbon action single shot air rifle with a compass in the stock. Like he just is. He's got something he really wants, but he's lost. He's just not paying attention. He's just dumbfounded. Like this. So they say, right? Isn't that what you would do? Just go, no. First of all, it'll be fun, don't you think? How would you handle that? Whatever. They ask you this all the time, you know what I'm saying? No, I wouldn't do that at all. But we get these situations all the time. Someone says, you enter into a conversation where they're talking about what they would do if they won the lottery. Now pause for a second. I have my locker room, Sears job answer to that. But that's not actually what I would do if I won the lottery. And that's not how I would talk about it. If I was with my community group. If I won the lottery, first thing I would do is be terrified. I don't know if I can handle that amount of money. That sounds scary. Which is a weird thing to say to your co workers. They'd be like, what? I could absolutely handle millions of dollars. I don't think you could. I've seen you handle this paycheck bad. You guys, you've made a lot of bad choices since I've known you you get these opportunities where they ask you, what do you think? What would you do? What would you. How would you handle this? What would you do in marriage? What would you. I have people come say, hey, you got any marriage advice? You got any whatever? And these are these moments where we get to go, yeah, I actually do have a lot of thoughts on marriage, but I'm a Christian, so it's all informed by the Bible. Do you want to hear that? Oh, yeah. The Bible says. I'm a Christian. So the Bible says a lot about how we handle money. So I can tell you how I'd handle, you know, $2.5 billion. You're going to be annoyed with me, but here we go. And you can start those conversations. Someone says, am I right? And you can go, I don't think so. So. And they'll say, what? And you can go, I'm so glad you asked. But you have these moments all the time. And if you actually think about it, if you actually have your radar up, you've gotten a lot of windows, a lot of doors for you to begin to share the gospel, for you to begin to have conversations that are real. And the truth is, some of these people, you're like, I'm building a relationship with them. I'm building a friendship with them. And if I asked you why, you would say, so that I can share the gospel with them. Okay, and now you have these doors, these openings, these opportunities, and you're like, but if I do that, they won't be my friend anymore. Okay, well, then you're not making the best use of the time. If you're in these friendships for the sake of sharing the gospel, and you won't share the gospel, that's odd. But when you begin, if you say, well, they'll stop being my friend, well, then, okay, go make a friendship with someone who wants to hear this and pray for that door to be open. But you also don't know that that's true because someone shared the gospel with you. And it was like someone had brought water to a desert. And you would declare that it's the greatest news you ever heard. And there's somebody that you're around that you have a relationship with that you have an opening for, you have an opportunity with that you love dearly. And you might could begin to tell them something. And the spirit go to work in their heart because Jesus has bought them with his blood. And they suddenly go, thank you so much for sharing this.So we're going to go be active in this, and y' all you gotta understand there are some energy level things that happen in relationships and invitations there, your invitations to people, the things you're asking people to participate in, take energy level. There's energy level differences. So some people will be like, I invited them in my group, they don't want to come. Okay, first of all, invite people to your community group. That's one of the best places for them to be and hear about the gospel. But if they don't want to come, that kind of makes sense. Would you like to come to someone's house you don't know, meet people you don't know, discuss, eat food that was cooked at their houses that you haven't seen? You don't know where that came from. Just add a little bit of mystery. Discuss a thing you don't care about. Pray to a God you don't believe in for three hours. No. No. Well, that's weird. It's like that actually, they might not want to. That energy level, you know, there's a different energy level from can we grab lunch together to do you want to come to my community group? Do you want to get matching tattoos and move to Colorado with me? Like, energy levels on invitations change, you guys. And so start figuring out what will they say yes to. Some people would much be much more willing to come eat dinner with you at a restaurant than at your house. Some people would much rather eat dinner with you at your house. Some people don't want to come eat dinner with just you at your house because they have to carry the conversation. They'd much rather come to a party. Some people don't want to come to a party because meeting a bunch of new people scares them. Be wise, use the best. Make the best use of the time and start figuring out who am I around? What kind of invitation will they say yes to? How do I get the rest of our group around them? And how do we begin to be everyday missionaries together? But let's take this seriously because someone once told you the gospel and you will never be the same.And God has us around people where he has already infiltrated with missionaries and we're supposed to tell them, let's pray. Lord, may we be blessed in our everyday mission efforts. Lord, may your spirit be at work to convict and to send and to equip. And Lord, may when the gospel is proclaimed, people respond in belief. Help us to take this seriously and obey. Lord, we ask for open doors and for clear presentations, for fearlessness that we would be unashamed of the gospel. It has the power of salvation for all who will believe in Jesus name. Amen.As we conclude our time together, we're going to sing in a moment, but we're going to take communion. And in First Corinthians, chapter 11, Paul gives instruction on what communion is and how to respond to it. He says,> For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.So as Christians, we come around the table together to remember that Christ's body was broken for us, that his blood was shed for us, and that our only hope is in Him. Some of you have very real sins that you're struggling with right now, very real doubt, very real pain. And one of the things that we do is we take very real bread and very real fruit of the vine, and we remember that he died for us in a very real way, and that he rose in a very real way, and that his substantive work on the cross is effective and efficient for salvation, and that our only hope is in Him. There's something to the tangible nature of this, the slowing ourselves down and the remembering that if I'm not in Christ and he's not in me, I have no hope. And so this is something that we share together because we have one Lord that saves all of us.So if you are not a Christian, this is not something that you would partake in because you do not yet know and remember and proclaim the work of Christ on your behalf. But if you belong to Jesus, I would invite you to take a moment to confess, to take seriously what we are about to participate in. And when you are ready to take communion, if you have a gluten allergy, we do have gluten free, the back corner over there. So when you're ready, take communion.

Following the characters of the Christmas Story.

What's up, dudes? We had a blast covering the last movie, so we're doing another live commentary! It's A Christmas Story, and it's awesome! Anthony Caruso from ‘Tis the Podcast, CJ Bélanger from Rose Suchak Ladder, and I have a blast with this watch along! 'Tis the PodcastFB: @tisthepodcastTwitter: @tisthepodIG: @tisthepodcastFB Group: Tis the Podcast GroupRose Suchak LadderIG: @rosesuchakladderpodGive us a buzz! Send a text, dudes!Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com! Later, dudes!

Sandeep Maity, president and CEO of Unreached talks about his story of being reached for the gospel when he was a child in SE Asia.  He's part of the effort of equipping the churches to reach and multiply in their communities in these hard-to-reach areas, often under persecution.  Novelist Donna VanLiere, author of "Looking for Christmas," talks the importance of remembering the accounts of Jesus' birth and the people involved.  These past stories speak to us in the present day.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Christ's love is unlike any other—you are fully known and still fully embraced. It doesn't fade with moods, distance, or failure; it runs toward you in weakness, lifts you when shame whispers, and stays when others step back. His love corrects without crushing, comforts without numbing, and calls you into purpose with gentle strength. And in today's message, Pastor Bill will remind you to let God's relentless affection quiet fear, heal old wounds, and re-teach your heart what real love feels like.

Christ's love is unlike any other—you are fully known and still fully embraced. It doesn't fade with moods, distance, or failure; it runs toward you in weakness, lifts you when shame whispers, and stays when others step back. His love corrects without crushing, comforts without numbing, and calls you into purpose with gentle strength. And in today's message, Pastor Bill will remind you to let God's relentless affection quiet fear, heal old wounds, and re-teach your heart what real love feels like.

As the snow begins to fall, can she finally find where she belongs? Flora Phillips has a ready excuse for everything. Abandoned as a baby on a stranger's doorstep, wrapped in nothing but a towel, s... Uitgegeven door SAGA Egmont Spreker: Jessica Temple

You are not an accident or an afterthought. God crafted your personality, gifts, and even your quirks with intention, weaving strengths and struggles into a purpose only you can carry. Your story—every chapter—can reflect His goodness. Release comparisons, reject shame, and embrace the design He delighted to make. Grow where He's planted you, and let Him refine, not replace, who you are. And in today's message, Pastor Bill will invite you to rest securely in Christ: He made you on purpose, for a purpose!

You are not an accident or an afterthought. God crafted your personality, gifts, and even your quirks with intention, weaving strengths and struggles into a purpose only you can carry. Your story—every chapter—can reflect His goodness. Release comparisons, reject shame, and embrace the design He delighted to make. Grow where He's planted you, and let Him refine, not replace, who you are. And in today's message, Pastor Bill will invite you to rest securely in Christ: He made you on purpose, for a purpose!

This '80s flick is to All Hallows' Eve what "A Christmas Story" is to Christmas: a true classic deserving a 24-hour marathon and a wild all-night celebration where blood takes the place of alcohol. Director Tom Holland's heartfelt homage to vampire movies breathed new life into a horror subgenre that was, sadly, starting to fade away, much like an undead creature of the night. It brought the vampire back into the spotlight, setting the stage for other nostalgic blood-sucking hits of the era, such as "The Lost Boys", "Near Dark", and "Bram Stoker's Dracula".So grab your binoculars, crucifix, and garlic necklace as Tim Williams and guest co-host Chris Evans discuss “Fright Night” from 1985 on this special Halloween episode of the 80s Flick Flashback podcast!Here are some additional behind-the-scenes trivia we were unable to cover in this episode:According to Chris Sarandon, he wanted Jerry to whistle "Whistle While You Work" rather than "Strangers in the Night" when first confronting Charley. But Disney would not give their permission to use the song.To evoke a genuine frightened reaction when Charley first sees Amy as a vampire, William Ragsdale did not see the stunt actress in makeup beforehand.Evil Ed's complex death scene, designed by Edlund and Bruno, strategically used darkness and quick cuts to obscure details. They intentionally reduced the lighting, relying on elements like a swinging chandelier that Wolf Ed crashes into. Visual effects cinematographer Bill Neil stated this swinging light was crucial, as the shifting shadows allowed them to hold shots longer, making the "brief glimpses" of the character highly effective.Sources:Wikipedia, IMDB, Box Office Mojohttps://www.dreadcentral.com/lists/261132/fearsome-facts-8-things-didnt-know-fright-night-1985/Some sections were composed by ChatGPTWe'd love to hear your thoughts on our podcast! You can share your feedback with us via email or social media.​Website - https://www.80sflickflashback.com/​TeePublic Store - https://www.teepublic.com/user/eighties-flick-flashback​Buy Me A Coffee - https://buymeacoffee.com/80sflickfb​Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/80sflickflashbackpodcast​Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/80sflickflashback/​TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@80sflickflashback​Email - Info@80sFlickFlashback.com

When Jesus convicts you, the right response isn't excuses, delay, or self-defense—it's repentance. Turn around, tell the truth, and hand Him the keys you've been clutching. Repentance isn't humiliation; it's the doorway to freedom, clarity, and a restored relationship with your creator. And in today's message, Pastor Bill will invite you to choose the courage to change course, trusting God's mercy to cleanse, His wisdom to redirect, and His joy to meet you on the other side.

When Jesus convicts you, the right response isn't excuses, delay, or self-defense—it's repentance. Turn around, tell the truth, and hand Him the keys you've been clutching. Repentance isn't humiliation; it's the doorway to freedom, clarity, and a restored relationship with your creator. And in today's message, Pastor Bill will invite you to choose the courage to change course, trusting God's mercy to cleanse, His wisdom to redirect, and His joy to meet you on the other side.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy Spooky Month everyone! As the autumn weather finally arrives here in Iowa, I am in the mood to read some excellent Christmas ghost stories that are perfect for the Halloween season. Today's story is called Sir Hugo's Prayer by G. B. Burgin. It's a humorous tale of the ghostly Sir Hugo and his wife who have been forced to haunt the family grounds. Then one Christmas Eve, a young lady arrives with two potential suitors who are seeking to win her affection. Will Sir Hugo be able to lend a (ghostly) helping hand? Also, I take a very quick look at the Saint behind the song "Good King Wenceslas" - which has also has a connection to our story. Who knew the name "Wenceslas" would be so hard to pronounce...  I hope you enjoy today's funny and festive and slightly spooky story!   Ways to support the show: Rate and review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-cozy-christmas-podcast/id1523423375  Buy me a coffee? www.ko-fi.com/cozychristmas  Ornaments, Mugs, and Notebooks: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CozyChristmasPodcast  Logo shirt designs: http://tee.pub/lic/edygC_h4D1c    Contact Me: facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cozychristmaspodcast  instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cozychristmaspodcast/  twitter: https://twitter.com/CozyXmasPod  youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCikiozEbu0h9pKeI1Ei5TQ email: cozychristmaspodcast@gmail.com     #podcast #Christmas #christmaspodcast #halloween #halloweenstories #christmasstories #ghoststories

In this inaugural episode of the new series "Kingdom Now," Pastor Karl introduces an in-depth journey through the Gospel of Matthew. Titled after Jesus's prayer in Matthew 6, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," this series explores the unique perspective of Matthew's Gospel, emphasizing the kingdom of God in an upside-down way that challenges expectations. Pastor Karl sets the stage by providing background on the four Gospels, highlighting Matthew's distinct focus on Jesus as the royal Messiah from the line of David, written specifically for a Jewish audience. He delves into Matthew's identity as a former tax collector, illustrating how Jesus transformed his life, changing his identity and direction. Through Matthew's story, Pastor Karl introduces the discipleship process of "belong, become, give, and go," encouraging listeners to reflect on their own spiritual journey. The episode focuses on Matthew 1:1-17, exploring Jesus's genealogy and its purposeful inclusion of unexpected figures, reinforcing the message that when God writes the story, nothing is a mistake. Join us as we begin this transformative study, learning how God uses broken backgrounds for His kingdom purposes. Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"Join us in person 9:00am & 10:30am every Sunday morning.37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636For more visit us at flipside.churchFor more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

Lindsey Graham was on NBC with Kristen Welker and for once he wasn't talking about war! He actually stood his ground and made the liberal media studder when asked about President Trump weaponizing the DOJ. Somehow a goose, gander, and a Christmas Story made its way into this conversation.

Send us a textKen from the Sounds of Christmas talks to writer, film critic and podcaster Alonso Duralde about his new book Have Yourself A Movie Little Christmas (Revised and Updated) and lots of movies (including It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story and Die Hard)!Find a copy of Have Yourself A Movie Little Christmas (Revised and Updated)  Connect with Alonso on Instagram                                                                        Connect with Alonso on BlueSkyShow links:Listen to the Sounds of Christmas stationFind the Sounds of Christmas podcastConnect with the Sounds of Christmas on social mediaCheck out all the artists that made the 2024 season of the Sounds of Christmas station possibleSupport the show

Hello dear listeners, we hope you are enjoying the teaser episodes of Haunted UK Fiction so far! The holiday season is quickly approaching, and we are looking for story submissions that combine both the paranormal and Christmas or New Year's Eve. There are countless stories involving ghosts and the holidays, the most famous of which is undoubtedly A Christmas Carol… No need to write an entire novel though! We at Haunted UK Fiction are ideally looking for short stories anywhere from 5-15 pages long, but flash fiction and novellas will also be considered. If you have a tale waiting in the wings, whether it's in a notebook that got tucked in a drawer years ago, or something that has been rattling around in your head waiting for the perfect time to be freed from the confines of your imagination… why not put pen to paper, then send your story in to hauntedukfiction@hotmail.com – that's hauntedukfiction@hotmail.comThe deadline for story submissions is the 1st of November.Who knows… the next story to be featured on our show… could be yours!

Welcome to the ber months! Today I'll be reading a short story called Angela's Christmas by Julia Schayer. It tells the story of a young lady who wants to help those in need. Will her small act of kindness be enough to help a poor, desperate, and lonely woman on Christmas Eve? I also give a quick update on the book club. We'd love to have you join us as we read Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jaqueline Frost, a cozy mystery set on a Maine Christmas Tree Farm!      Ways to support the show: Rate and review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-cozy-christmas-podcast/id1523423375  Buy me a coffee? www.ko-fi.com/cozychristmas  Ornaments, Mugs, and Notebooks: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CozyChristmasPodcast  Logo shirt designs: http://tee.pub/lic/edygC_h4D1c    Contact Me: facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cozychristmaspodcast  instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cozychristmaspodcast/  twitter: https://twitter.com/CozyXmasPod  youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCikiozEbu0h9pKeI1Ei5TQ email: cozychristmaspodcast@gmail.com       #podcast #Christmas #christmaspodcast #christmasstory

The Five Count recently had a chance to speak with actor Zack Ward. Zack is best known for his role as "Scut Farkus" in the film A Christmas Story. He's also appeared in films like Freddy vs. Jason, Almost Famous, Transformers and Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Meet Zack Ward at Crypticon Sept. 12-14 in Minnesota! https://youtu.be/AbFP0ay5vME?si=4HC3U8zxRt_1pLkW

SEASON 4 EPISODE 3: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: Hey! While Putin is here in Alaska so Trump can kiss his fanny, let's arrest him on behalf of the International Criminal Court and its member states Canada and Mexico who want to try him for kidnapping Ukrainian children and lying that they're orphans and forcibly converting them into Russians! The willingness to let this scum set foot on American territory is all part of Trump's desperate need to win an award. A major award. A major award like the one the father wanted in the movie "A Christmas Story." He wants what his idiot press secretary Karoline Leavitt calls "The Noble Peace Prize." He'll do anything to get it. Because he needs it to distract you from Trumpstein. Happily Jayvee Vance is back to remind you all that the Epstein files contain all kinds of dirt about Democratic billionaire politicians of 20 years ago. Of whom Trump was one. Registered Democrat. Oops. And it turns out that meeting Vance and the FBI and DOJ chiefs and the White House Chief of Staff DIDN'T have at the VP's residence about Epstein WITHOUT Trump? They had the Trumpstein meeting. They just had it somewhere else. And once again: why did they have it WITHOUT TRUMP? And now Trump is trying to distract by demanding all those DC homeless people who read Truth Social move out of town or else he'll...make them look at his new gold ballroom. And oh by the way as the leading universities continue to fold before Trump's dictatorial censorship and threat, somebody's standing up to him: Stanford's student-run newspaper is suing him for violating the 1st Amendment rights of its staffers. The leaders of all of the El Foldo Universities (Columbia, Penn, UCLA) should resign and let the students lead the resistance. B-Block (29:17) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Kristi Noem is upset South Park made her look like a cartoon. Well, MORE like a cartoon. I need to apologize for Mike Huckabee again insulting England. And Pam Bondi just offered you $50,000,000 if you can tell her where Nicolas Maduro is. He's in Venezuela. Can we each have our 50 mill now? C-Block (41:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's the 37-year anniversary of Gretzky Week! My greatest scoop, the one I did the least work on of any story I ever covered. The sources literally phoned it in to me. The day Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings and I was the first on television with it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972), Deathdream (1974), Black Christmas (1974) Director Bob Clark will probably always be remembered for his now classic holiday film, A Christmas Story (1983), released the same year as his previous film, Porky's, which is one of the raunchiest sex comedies of that era! But he started off making horror films, 3 of them in particular, before he moved on to making films in just about every other sub-genre. As you can imagine, it is these 3 horror films that we are going to discuss on this episode. One of them set many of the standards of what would be known as a slasher film, while the others have two very different take on zombies. All made on low to moderate budgets, but still are still so well made, it's a shame that Clark didn't continue on in the horror genre. Maybe that's why he's not remembered as much as names like Carpenter, Cronenberg, or Craven. And that's why we're discussing it now! Films mentioned in this episode: Baby Geniuses (1999), Black Christmas (1974), Black Christmas (2006), Black Christmas (2019), Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973), Born on the 4th of July (1989), The Brood (1979), Cat People (1982), Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972), A Christmas Story (1983), Deathdream (1974), Deranged (1974), Duel (1971), Halloween (1978), Hereditary (2018), Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964), Jaws (1975), Last House on the Left (1972), Murder by Decree (1979), Popcorn (1991), Porky's (1981), Porky's II: The Next Day (1983), Prom Night (1980), Return of the Living Dead (1985)

This episode is a heartwarming Christmas story that intertwines themes of joy, family, and redemption. It begins with a festive spirit as characters prepare for Christmas, but soon takes a dark turn when a threat of violence emerges. The narrative explores the complexities of desperation and the lengths one will go to for family, ultimately leading to a powerful message of forgiveness and hope during the holiday season.TakeawaysThe Christmas season evokes nostalgia and a longing for childhood.Acts of kindness, like giving away newspapers, can have a profound impact.Desperation can lead individuals to make regrettable choices.Family bonds are central to the holiday spirit.Forgiveness is a powerful theme during Christmas.The importance of understanding others' struggles is highlighted.The story emphasizes the value of goodwill and compassion.Redemption is possible, even after making mistakes.The narrative showcases the transformative power of love and family.Christmas is a time for reflection and reconciliation.

We visit with Professor Quentin Schulze, author of the best selling, "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out." He shares stories of Jean Shepherd, American storyteller, humorist known for the film, "A Christmas Story," which he narrated and co-scripted. He also wrote "The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters," which seemed appropriate for this time of year. Professor Shultze taught a class with Jean Shepherd on storytelling  

Next up in our series on the essentials of the faith, we're talking with Christy Thornton about the Trinity. In this episode, you'll learn about the dangers of using metaphors to describe the Trinity, why the Trinity is essential to the Christian faith, and more. As Angie and Elizabeth say at the end of the episode, you'll leave with a greater understanding of who God is and feel more confident to talk about the Trinity after listening to this conversation!LINKS FOR FURTHER LEARNINGJohn 14He's Where the Joy Is Bible Study by Tara-Leigh Cobble What We Believe: Theology 101 courseEveryday Theology Bible Study by Mary Wiley Home with God by Kyle Worley Ask us your theology questions about the essentials of the faith here! Your question could be featured and answered in our season finale Q&A episode.  RECOMMENDED: Listen to The Theology of the Christmas Story episode with Christy Thornton. Marked is a podcast from Lifeway Women: https://women.lifeway.com/blog/podcasts/.Hosted by Angie Elkins and Elizabeth Hyndman.CONNECT WITH US!Follow Lifeway Women and Christy Thornton on Instagram.Learn more about the More Than Enough Bible study at lifeway.com/morethanenough. Learn more about Feast at lifeway.com/feast. Learn about the In the Word event at lifeway.com/intheword.

Join Max, Kenny, and Jamie as we discuss, review, and tier list the 27 most recent movies we've watched through our Ohana movie club! Lots of disagreements, shenanigans, and mayhem! Make sure to check out Jamie @ Foster The Meeple! https://www.youtube.com/c/fosterthemeeplehttps://fosterthemeeple.ca/—————

Join as Pastor John continues our study in the book of Luke

Hot Date has reached it's next Top Ten episode and for this episode, Dan and Vicky pick their most favorite movie adaptations - films that started as books, plays, musicals, songs, even Twitter feeds!   Your hosts also talk about what they've seen recently including Sinners, Drop, the new season of Black Mirror, Kevin Bacon starring horror show The Bondsman, The Lincoln Lawyer, and the Broadway musical Real Women Have Curves. Our socials:  hotdatepod.com FB:  Hot Date Podcast Twitter: @HotDate726 Insta:  hotdatepod

aka - A long time to watch in a galaxy far, far away … Star Wars (1977) has a runtime of 121 minutes. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), considered by right minded people to be the best of the Star Wars prequels, has a runtime of 136 minutes. Andor the prequel, or perhaps prelude, to Rogue One clocks in at 1212 minutes, or just over 20 hours. This week, with three of four, three episode Andor arcs released the Regular Joe's devote even more time to examining how those minutes were spent. There's no disagreement that Andor has its moments of greatness. What is in dispute is, whether the great justifies the wait. As you might expect, opinions vary.   You may also like to know, the Regular Joes Podcast has received a Major Award (yes, thats a Christmas Story reference), we were named one of the top collecting podcasts on the web by Million Podcast, you can see the full list here -   There's also the usual Random Topics, and a round of What's in the Box. Thanks for listening!

Merry Christmas everyone!! Round up the kids for a sweet time with Heidi as we enjoy a good old fashioned story hour.  Not Consumed: Helping your family grow in faith so you are Not Consumed by life. Head to notconsumed.com/heidi to download the FREE 5 day family Bible study to build hope and purpose into your home! Use coupon code HEIDI for 15% off your entire purchase.  Show Notes: http://heidistjohn.com/blog/podcasts/something-wonderful-christmas-story

Merry Christmas! In celebrity conversion news, Denzel Washington got baptized at his church in Harlem just days before his 70th birthday and became a licensed minister, and New York Times columnist, David Brooks, has written about his surprising journey from agnosticism to Christianity. What do these stories tell us about our culture's ongoing hunger for God? On the other side, David French explains why some Christians now think cruelty is acceptable. New Testament scholar, Nijay Gupta, is back to talk about what the Gospels actually say about Jesus' birth, and what our Christmas pageants get right and very wrong about the story. Also this week—an airport in New Zealand bans hugs longer than three minutes   Sponsor - Logos Bible Study App: If you want to simplify your study and go deeper into Scripture, visit www.logos.com/holypost. You can get started for free with an exclusive extended 2-month free trial.   Sponsor - Hiya Health - Go to www.hiyahealth.com/HOLYPOST to receive 50% off your first order Sponsor - Faithful Counseling - This episode is sponsored by Faithful Counseling. Give online therapy a try at https://www.faithfulcounseling.com/HOLYPOST and get 10% off   Links Mentioned in the News Segment Is this airport's 3-minute limit on goodbye hugs ‘inhumane'? https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/10/22/max-hug-time-three-minutes-new-zealand-airport-goes-viral-for-limiting-goodbyes#:~:text=Three%20minutes%20was%20%22plenty%20of,and%20serotonin%2C%20De%20Bono%20said   Denzel Washington Gets Baptized and Becomes a Minister During Live Streamed Ceremony: 'It Took a While but I'm Here' https://people.com/denzel-washington-gets-baptized-and-becomes-minister-during-live-streamed-ceremony-8765639   Opinion | The Shock of Faith: It's Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/opinion/faith-god-christianity.html    

In this special episode of Working It Out, Mike's old friend and frequent guest Pete Holmes sits down for a holly jolly discussion about classic and new classic Christmas movies. Mike and Pete sing the praises of Elf, examine the dark underbelly of A Christmas Story, and take the Gremlins to task over their many nonsensical rules. Plus, Pete breaks down his own performance in the new film The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.Please consider donating to Homebody Industries

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has officially declared a state of emergency because of a recent bird flu outbreak despite no reported cases of human-to-human transmission. Is Gavin Newsom the Justin Trudeau of America? Glenn plays the latest song by Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik, a dis track against Justin Trudeau. Glenn and Liz warn of the coming political war as Trump enters the White House. Will Republicans be able to make the most of the opportunity they've been given? Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) joins to break down what his latest report on the corruption of January 6 exposes. Could we see some accountability for the people involved, like Liz Cheney? Wave Nunnally, Evangel University professor of early Judaism, joins to outline the historical story behind the three wise men and what they were doing in the lead-up to Jesus' birth. Quentin Schultze, Calvin University professor, joins to give the lesson Americans can take away from the holiday classic "A Christmas Story." Glenn and Liz react to Minneapolis local news putting on a satanic display.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glenn and Liz warn of the coming political war as Trump enters the White House. Will Republicans be able to make the most of the opportunity they've been given? Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) joins to break down what his latest report on the corruption of January 6 exposes. Could we see some accountability for the people involved, like Liz Cheney? Quentin Schultze, Calvin University professor, joins to give the lesson Americans can take away from the holiday classic "A Christmas Story."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elvis Presley loved the Memphis singer Johnny Ace. Johnny died long before Elvis' became the King of Rock ‘N' Roll and the way in which Johnny Ace died was as tragic as it was violent. It involved a game of Russian roulette, a greedy and dubious rock ‘n' roll impresario, BB King, Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and a killer conspiracy and music history myth in desperate need of busting. Buckle up for a Christmas story like no other. What are your favorite rock 'n' roll myths? Which ones need busting? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: Instagram YouTube X (formerly Twitter)  Facebook Fan Group TikTok Check out Kikoff: https://getkikoff.com/DISGRACELAND Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the best Christmas movie ever? Welcome to VOLUME 155 of The Bracket. Kenjac is host alongside KBnoswag, Nick Turani, Robbie Fox, Eddie and Danny Conrad. Follow The Bracket ►TWITTER - https://twitter.com/BracketPod ►INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/thebracket/ Follow Kenjac ►TWITTER - https://twitter.com/JackKennedy ►INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/jackennedy/ ►TIKTOK - https://www.tiktok.com/@ken_jac Preview - (0:00) Intro - (0:23) The Night Before vs It's A Wonderful Life - (5:30) Bad Santa vs Office Christmas Party - (10:31) Polar Express vs the Grinch - (14:16) Cheah-In Game - (22:24) Cheah in Winner vs Home Alone - (29:14) The Santa Claus vs A Christmas Story - (35:15) Christmas Vacation vs Fred Claus - (42:53) Charlie Brown vs Jingle All The Way - (47:19) Elf vs Four Christmases - (53:34) Playoffs - (57:02) Finals - (1:12:31) Save 20% on your next order at https://pepperpalace.com by using code BRACKET Head to https://FACTORMEALS.com/50lcb and use code 50lcb to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/lightscamerabarstool