Podcasts about first corinthians

Return Of The King Part #2 of Series: Heaven Changes Everything Pastor Kerry Shook 2 Phases of Christ's Return The Rapture The Reign WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN CHRIST RETURNS? JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF WILL COME BACK IN THE CLOUDS IT WILL HAPPEN INSTANTLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST WE WILL MEET CHRIST IN THE AIR WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER CHRIST'S RETURN? WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S RETURN? HOW SHOULD I LIVE BECAUSE OF CHRIST'S RETURN? RELEASE YOUR FEARS RENEW YOUR FAITH REFOCUS YOUR PRIORITIES Scriptures: First Corinthians 15:51-58, First Thessalonians 4:16-18, First Thessalonians 4:16a, First Thessalonians 4:16b, First Corinthians 15:52, First Thessalonians 4:16c, First Thessalonians 4:17, Matthew 24:21, Revelation 3:10, Matthew 24:5-8, Matthew 24:14, Second Timothy 3:1-5, First Corinthians 15:54-55, First Corinthians 15:57, First Corinthians 15:58b, Revelation 16:15, Revelation 1:3, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 22:16, First Corinthians 15:58 Topics: Heaven, Love, Hope

Mass Readings Reading 1, Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 Reading 2, First Corinthians 10:16-17 Gospel, John 6:51-58

Heaven Changes Everything Part #1 of Series: Heaven Changes Everything Pastor Kerry Shook Heaven Is A Place Of SO MUCH MORE Heaven Is A Place Of NO MORE Heaven Is A Place Of ONE WAY Scriptures: First Corinthians 2:9, Matthew 6:9-13, First Corinthians 2:7-10, Colossians 3:1, Second Corinthians 5:1, First Corinthians 13:12, Revelation 21:4, Revelation 21:5a, John 14:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:12, First Thessalonians 1:8-9, Second Peter 3:9, Matthew 28:19, Luke 9:26 Topics: Heaven, Love, Hope

What does First Corinthians 6 really teach about judgment and identity?In today's message Gary reminds believers that they're not just living for today—they're being prepared to judge the world and even angels. This study explores what it means to be washed, sanctified, and called to live differently in a culture that mirrors ancient Corinth.Discover how your identity in Christ should shape how you think, live, and respond to sin.

What does First Corinthians 6 really teach about judgment and identity?In today's message Gary reminds believers that they're not just living for today—they're being prepared to judge the world and even angels. This study explores what it means to be washed, sanctified, and called to live differently in a culture that mirrors ancient Corinth.Discover how your identity in Christ should shape how you think, live, and respond to sin.

Series: N/AService: Sunday Class - SCL - 10:00AMType: Bible ClassSpeaker: Oliver Peter-Contesse

May 13, 2026

How to Be Immovable in a Constantly Moving World Pastor Chris Shook BE THE MESSAGE MEMORIZE GOD'S WORD Scriptures: First Corinthians 15:58, Haggai 1:7, Proverbs 4:7, Proverbs 9:10, Jeremiah 33:3, Malachi 3:6a, Hebrews 11:13, Philippians 3:20, Hebrews 12:2, First Corinthians 11:1, Hebrews 4:12, Psalms 119:11, Deuteronomy 30:11,14 Topics: Mothers Day, Love, Hope

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. 1 Corinthians 1:10-2:5 Isaac Hill Download TranscriptWell, good morning again. If you have been with us on Sunday mornings, you'll know that we have been working our way through the book of Second Samuel. But we are actually going to take a pause this morning. It just so happened to be that in terms of calendaring, if we had stayed in 2 Samuel today, it would have been a rather emotionally heavy and difficult topic to discuss. And on Mother's Day, we figured that maybe wasn't the best approach. And so with Chet and Spencer out of town, they asked if I would preach. And they said the choice is yours. You get to choose, which is great for me. So for those that maybe don't know, we have been in the process of sending and planting a church out in Lexington. And as somebody who is committed to going and to serving in a leadership capacity, we over there, that has kind of been where my mental space and where my heart has been drawn as of late. And so what I wanted to do is share some encouragement with you that I have been receiving from the opening chapters of First Corinthians. And so that's where we're going to be this morning. As we're gearing up as a church to enter into this time, in this season of transition, there's going to be a lot of change. And change can kind of be frightening and scary. If you don't like change, I'm sorry, but it's coming to us. And whether or not you're going or whether or not you are staying, things will look different and there'll be a lot of things that have to be done and there'll be a lot of little tasks and a lot of little stuff that we're trying to work at. There's a way that in the middle of all of that, we could start to forget what is essential and we could start to focus too much of our attention on what is non essential. In the letter of First Corinthians, right out of the gate, Paul is helping point out to this church some ways that they specifically have been getting caught up in non essentials. And he wants to remind them of what is the main thing. And so that's what I want to remind us of this morning. What is the main thing. So let me pray and then we'll dive in.Father, we, we thank youk for your word, the way that it instructs us. And would you'd be instructing us this morning, would you'd word not return void in Jesus name. Amen.If you will open up your Bibles and turn To First Corinthians, Chapter one. I actually don't have any on the slides behind me. There won't be any text there. We're trying out some new stuff. Instead of having the text on the screen, you can open up a physical Bible. We are blessed to live in a time and a space where we have physical Bibles available to us. So if you didn't bring yours with you, you can grab one that is provided in the seat racks in front of you. If you're using one of those Bibles, it's going to be on page 1102. And as you're turning there, since we're jumping right into the middle of a book, I figure I'd give a little bit of context to help position us. First Corinthians is a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. And what we read in Acts 18 is that Paul actually was at the forefront of spreading the gospel and helping start the church in Corinth. And so this letter is written about three to five years after his time there. Now, a little bit of brief context on the city itself. Corinth was a port city, which really, the only reason that's important to know is that port cities often grow and become prosperous because there's a lot of trade that's going through there. If you can kind of visualize the setting of what this church was started in, in this city, if you think maybe like a Charleston or a Savannah or maybe Virginia beach area, that's kind of the space where the church is in. That's the culture that is around them. Paul, he's writing to them, and at the beginning, he's trying to remind them of what he preached to them when he first came. We're going to pick up in chapter one, verse ten and the first six verses that we read, we're kind of. We're going to go kind of quickly through them because they're also still just helping build some context for us. So verse 10.> I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.> For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.> What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ."> Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?> I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,> lest anyone should say that you were baptized in my name.> (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)> For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.Paul, he's concerned about some quarreling, about some bickering that's coming up in the church. He's received a report about this Chloe, we don't know her. We don't know what it means to be Chloe's people, but we assume it means something to the people at Corinth. This is the report that is given to Paul about the issue, the quarreling that's showing up.What I mean is that each one of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, which he was a teacher that came after Paul in Corinth, or, I follow Cephas, that would be the apostle Peter, or I follow Christ. The picture that we get here is that it appears that the people in the church have almost kind of like been forming factions where they're grabbing on to kind of important figureheads in the church at the time, and they're claiming them as some sort of way for, like, status and position. You're like, paul, Paul is my guy. And as if that's supposed to communicate something about my importance, my intellect, my ability to know what's going on. It's a very interesting one as well. The very last one where he says, I follow Christ. Because you might think, well, that's the good crowd. They're the ones figuring it out. You're supposed to follow Christ. But it doesn't seem that he's really saying that because he's batched them in with the rest of this group. And it seems that there's a way in which the people have even started to say, I follow Christ as some kind of way to try to jockey for position and kind of power and strength in the church. And so that's the situation that Paul is finding himself riding into here, is that the people are beginning to miss the main point because they're needing in their own cells to try to hold on to some kind of strength.> For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.> For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."> Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?> For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.> For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,> but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,> but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.> For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.When you're reading Scripture, paying attention to repetition is a good hint at what's being pointed, pointed out as important. You have this idea of wisdom and its opposite folly coming up over and over again in a very short time. The image that we're getting here is that we have the wisdom of the world and we have it stacked up against God. That's what Paul is beginning to do here, building these ideas.> For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.> But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;> God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,> so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.> And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,> so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."If you can use your imaginations, with Paul here, you would consider a spectrum where on one end you had wisdom and power, wisdom and strength, and then on the other side of the spectrum, you had weakness and foolishness. Paul says, wherever you put the message of the cross, he's been talking about it as weakness and foolishness. He said, wherever you put it, it's wiser and it's stronger than you and I. Consider for a moment what is the message of Christ crucified? It begins with Jesus coming to us, condescending to us, taking on flesh, like you and I. I would assume that all of us here in the room know the limitations of your body. You know the weakness that we are. And that's all just before we even get close to what is the cross, and you start to approach it, and you have the night before Jesus is betrayed, he's stabbed in the back by a friend, and then he's turned over to be arrested. When he's arrested, all of his close friends now leave him and he's left on his own. Then he goes. The crowds who once just a couple days earlier were shouting his name are now scorning him. They're saying, release for us a guy who we know, he's rotten, he's a criminal, but we'd rather have him than this Jesus guy. Then he's handed over to random soldiers who beat him within an inch of his life. Then he's taken out to the entrance of the city and he's hung on a tree next to common thieves. This is the message of Christ crucified. Such weakness, such foolishness. How weak and foolish we must be. But deep in this truth is precisely where we find the wisdom and where we find the power.> And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.> For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.> And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling.> My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,> so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.This is the same as us here, unless some of you have a kingly line that I didn't know about. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing, things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. This is the wisdom. That it would be such a way where you and I couldn't boast in ourselves. We're torn. We have two sets of desires. On one hand, we really want to boast in ourselves. We really want to be able to tell you, I've got it figured out. But on the other hand, deep within you, your soul aches for what is true in Jesus, the message of this cross. Because do you really want to boast in yourself? Do you know what kind of weight that is that you have to carry to boast in yourself? You don't have to. You get to boast in Christ. You get to boast in his weakness, in his foolishness at the cross. And the weight can be lifted because it's about him, it's not about us.And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.Now, it's not been until recently, in the last several months of sitting in and meditating on this passage, that I've come to understand what I think Paul is actually getting it here when he says the phrase demonstration of spirit and of power. Every time I've read this passage, I've just assumed that as a great apostle, at the birth of the church, he's talking about some kind of sign, some kind of miraculous work. I mean, it happens all over the book of Acts as the church is getting going. And it even happens now and today that you can go to something like Acts 3. You can see Peter and John, they heal a lame man. Or maybe in Acts 9, where Peter raises Tabitha from the dead. Or Paul himself, he does miraculous work. He exercises a demonic spirit out of a man, and then he's thrown in prison for it. And then there's this miraculous work of him being broken out of jail. That's in Acts 16. And so I've always just assumed that, well, this is what he means here. And then that's always created a disconnect between me and Paul because that's not really what my lived experience is. I wrote it off and just continued on. But if you go and read Acts 18, which gives the account of his time in Corinth, not one time is there an instance of a mention of some miraculous work. There's not some big sign. If we just stayed inside of 1 Corinthians, he said that Jews demand signs. Why would he go and flip what he was saying? He just said, I decided to only know Christ and him crucified. Why would he turn around and start talking about something different? This is what I've come to understand. Paul hasn't changed the subject at all. He's still saying the same thing he's been saying the whole time, that the power of God, the demonstration of the Spirit, is Christ crucified at work in you. That's power, us coming to life in him. Paul says in verse five why he wanted to stay out of the way of the message so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul didn't want to come and try to sound intelligent and eloquent. He simply wanted to share the message of Christ crucified because he had tasted the power of God in his life. He knew he didn't want people saying, I follow Paul. He wanted people to say, how great is God, that his power would be at work within me to bring me new life. I boast in him and him alone. That's what he wants.Now, I want to share some encouragement for us as a church, specifically as it relates to the season that we're in, as we're about to send a church, and some of us are about to go and begin a new work out in Lexington. One of the reasons that we're doing this work, aside from the fact that we think God has said, go, so we're going to go, but it's because we want to create more seats at the table. We use that language all the time when our groups multiply. What we're trying to accomplish is create more seats at the table. We want to see others welcomed in and joined in to what we are doing. Very specifically, we want to see those who do not know the hope of Christ join us at the table. The reality is those people come to join us because we, as his people, are faithful to share the message. Just like Paul. The church in Corinth is the church at Corinth because Paul went and he declared the message.The specific encouragement is that Paul says he was in weakness and in fear and in trembling. If I had to guess, when we talk about the idea of evangelism or sharing the message that for all those believers in the room here now, myself included, if you have ever been at that precipice of sharing the message of Christ crucified, you've been afraid. You, like Paul, have trembled. As I've reflected on my own life, I've thought, why is it. Why is it that we can stand here in this room and say, oh, the cross of Jesus Christ, it's the reason that I am alive. And then I'm there in that moment where a friend, a neighbor, who doesn't know Christ, and there's a part of me that wants to. It's terrifying. I think the reason why is exactly what Paul has been saying here in First Corinthians, that the message of the cross is a stumbling block and it's foolishness. If I'm going to share the message of Christ, it's not about pointing to me and how great I am. If I do that, then I've emptied the cross of its power. When you're in that moment, what you're afraid of is exactly what Paul has come to experience. There are some people, oh, they get tripped up. That's pretty tense, awkward conversation. When you're in that moment, somebody gets tripped up like that and we don't want to be there. Or maybe you just get written off as a silly, foolish person. You're one of those weird Christians. The encouragement is that what Paul offers to us is not that we have to go and hone our skill into perfection, to be able to say it just right, to make it work, that we can be just like Paul. You can be weak, you can be afraid, you can tremble. Because it might be getting tense when I talk about this. But the message is not just foolishness and not just weakness, but for those who are called, those who the Lord is working in their heart. This message is power. Christ crucified is power and wisdom for new life. Some of us in the room here, you're already in the position. You already have the relationship with a neighbor or a co worker or a friend. You've been in Paul's spot, you know exactly, you've heard them talk about their life and you have in your head thought, if you only knew the gospel of Jesus. But you stopped at fear and trembling. My encouragement to you is take the next step of faith and share the message of Christ crucified. Your fears might be realized, but this message that while I was an enemy in my disobedience in love, Christ came to go to the cross to absolve the guilt of my rebellion and to give to me the right standing with the Father. That's a message that has power and wisdom to bring about new life. And that is worth it. It's worth it to share. That's what Paul has found to be true. May we find it to be true as well as a church. Whether you are somebody who is staying and going, those of us who are going, or whether you're packing it up and you're going. May we share this message. May we share in fear and in weakness and in trembling. And may we not use eloquent words of wisdom so that the cross would be empty. But may we simply share.Father, we thank you for the cross of Jesus that though it is weakness, though it is foolishness, it is power and it is wisdom. We have felt it because our eyes have been opened and we have been made alive in you. Father, you know us and where we are at. You know the fear and the trembling we that we feel and we face as we consider the notion of sharing this weak, foolish message with those around us. Would you'd empower us in the middle of that weakness and fear to simply say, christ crucified, we love you, praise you. Amen.I'm going to transition into a time of taking the Lord's Supper. Matt's going to come up and prepare to sing for us. In a moment when we have a moment of reflection, I want you to consider, take a moment to consider the cross of Christ. Specifically. Think about the power and the wisdom that it has been for you. Remember the work that the Lord has done in your life. And then when you're up and you're at the table, look around, look around this table and see your brothers and sisters. Remember, the power of the cross has been at work in them too. What joy. And then for a moment, just consider that there are people in this city that the Lord right now is working in their heart and in their life. And when they hear the message of Christ crucified out of our mouths, they will join us at the table and the cross will become power and wisdom.> 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.When you're ready, come to the table and proclaim the Lord's death. Need gluten free bread? It'll be in the back corner as well in the balcony.

Maranatha: Our Lord is Coming! The Rapture of the Church    In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3) The scene is etched forever in the sacred record of Scripture. It is the night of betrayal. The Passover supper has been eaten. The traitor has gone out into the darkness. The eleven remaining disciples sit in stunned silence as the weight of impending loss presses upon their souls.    Their Master has spoken plainly of His departure. He has washed their feet. He has given them the new commandment of love. And now, with the shadow of Gethsemane already falling across His face, the Lord Jesus Christ turns to address the deepest fear in their hearts. He does not offer vague religious platitudes. He does not speak in the language of uncertainty. Instead, He utters words that carry the full force of divine certainty, words that have echoed down through two thousand years of church history as the unbreakable promise of His personal return.   Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.   These verses stand as the cornerstone of the doctrine of the Rapture of the church, the blessed hope that has sustained persecuted saints, comforted grieving families, and ignited holy urgency in every generation of believers. Yet the full power of this promise is often missed in English translation.    The blazing heart of the passage lies in the Greek construction of the words “I will come again,” and it is there that the exposition must linger with scholarly precision and devotional weight. The verb translated “I will come again” is the present indicative active of the Greek word erchomai—literally, “I am coming.” It is not the simple future tense that one might expect for a distant event.  It is the present tense employed in a manner called the futuristic present tense. This is no grammatical accident. It is a deliberate choice by the Holy Spirit through the pen of the apostle John.    In classical and Koine Greek, the present tense can be used to describe a future action when that action is viewed by the speaker as so certain, so inevitable, and so imminent that it is as good as already unfolding before the eyes. The futuristic present tense does not weaken the promise; it intensifies it. It lifts the event out of the realm of mere prediction and plants it squarely in the realm of divine declaration. Jesus does not say, “I might come someday if conditions allow.”  He declares with the full authority of the Son of God, “I am coming.” The present tense shouts certainty. It breathes imminence.    It carries the weight of a future so fixed in the eternal counsels of the Godhead that the Speaker can speak of it as already in motion.   This futuristic present is not unique to this verse, but its placement here is profound.    The same construction appears elsewhere in the Gospel of John when Jesus describes events that are absolutely assured in the divine plan. The grammar itself becomes a theological hammer, driving home the truth that the return of Christ for His own is not a distant possibility but a present reality in the mind of the Savior.    He is even now, from the vantage point of eternity, in the act of coming. The promise is so certain that the tense of the verb collapses the future into the present. This is the grammatical foundation upon which the entire doctrine of the Rapture rests. The Rapture is not an afterthought in the plan of God.        It is the next great event on the divine calendar for the church of Jesus Christ, an event so fixed and so near that the Lord Himself can announce it in the present tense: “I am coming.”   The Rapture of the church is the personal, visible, and audible return of the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds to receive unto Himself every believer, both living and dead, and to take them to the place He has prepared in the Father's house. It is distinct from the Second Coming, which will occur at the end of the Tribulation when Christ returns to earth in power and great glory to judge the nations and establish His millennial kingdom.  The Rapture is the moment when the Bridegroom comes for His bride before the wrath of the Lamb is poured out upon a Christ-rejecting world. It is sudden. It is secret to the world but glorious to the saints.    It is the fulfillment of the promise given in the Upper Room, and it stands as the great hope of every blood-bought child of God.   No passage of Scripture unfolds this event with greater clarity and comfort than the words of the apostle Paul in First Thessalonians chapter four, verses thirteen through eighteen.    These verses were written by divine revelation to correct the ignorance of the Thessalonian believers concerning those who had died in Christ. The apostle writes: But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.   Consider the weight of each phrase. The apostle begins by lifting the veil of ignorance. Death is not the end for the believer; it is merely sleep for the body while the spirit is present with the Lord.    The sorrow of the Thessalonian Christians is real, but it is not hopeless sorrow. It is sorrow anchored in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because He died and rose, those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. The dead in Christ are not left behind. They will not miss the Rapture.    Their spirits, already in the presence of the Lord, will be reunited with their resurrected bodies at this moment.   Then comes the heart of the revelation: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord.” This is not human speculation. This is not apostolic opinion. This is direct revelation from the ascended Christ Himself.  The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven. Notice the personal emphasis. It is not an angel. It is not a representative.    The Lord Himself— the same Jesus who walked the shores of Galilee, who hung upon the cross, who burst from the tomb, who ascended from the Mount of Olives—He Himself shall descend. And He shall descend with a shout.    The Greek word for “shout” is keleusma, a military command, a royal summons, a cry of authority that will pierce the heavens and shake the graves.    Accompanying that shout will be the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. The trumpet does not signal judgment here; it signals assembly. It is the signal for the final gathering of the redeemed.   The sequence is precise and powerful. The dead in Christ shall rise first. Their bodies, sown in corruption, will be raised in incorruption.    The graves will surrender their prey. Then—and only then—we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. The word “caught up” is the Greek harpazo, a word that means to seize, to snatch away by force, to carry off suddenly. It is the same word used in Acts 8:39 when the Spirit caught away Philip, and in Revelation 12:5 when the man child is caught up to God.    It pictures a violent, irresistible removal from this earth. No believer will be left behind. No one who has trusted Christ will miss this moment. Living and resurrected saints will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The meeting place is not on the earth. It is in the air, in the clouds, the very atmosphere where the Lord will receive His own unto Himself exactly as He promised in John 14:3.   And then the final, glorious declaration: “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Not for a thousand years. Not for a million years. Forever. The Rapture is not a temporary event.    It is the beginning of an eternal union. The bride will be taken to the place prepared in the Father's house, and there she will remain with her Bridegroom throughout the ages of ages. This is the comfort with which the apostle commands believers to comfort one another. It is not a doctrine for debate. It is a doctrine for consolation in the face of death and for courage in the face of life.   The same apostle who received this revelation also unfolds the mystery of the bodily change that will occur at the Rapture.      In First Corinthians chapter fifteen, verses fifty-one and fifty-two, he writes: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.   This is the mystery that was hidden in ages past but is now revealed. Not every believer will die. There will be a generation of Christians alive at the moment of the Rapture. Those believers will not sleep; they will be changed.      The change will be instantaneous—“in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” The Greek word for “moment” is atomos, from which we derive the English word “atom.”    It means an indivisible unit of time, the smallest possible fragment of a second. Faster than the eye can blink, faster than the mind can comprehend, the transformation will occur.  The corruptible will put on incorruption. The mortal will put on immortality. The bodies that have groaned under the weight of sin and sickness will be glorified, conformed to the image of the risen Christ.    The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, and the living will be changed. This is the power of the Rapture. It is not a gradual process. It is a sudden, sovereign act of God that will leave the world stunned and the saints transported.   The early church lived in the constant expectation of this event. They faced persecution, imprisonment, and death with the cry of “Maranatha” upon their lips. That single Aramaic word, preserved for us in First Corinthians chapter sixteen, verse twenty-two, carries the heartbeat of New Testament Christianity: If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.   “Maranatha” is not a curse. It is a prayer. It is a declaration. It means “Our Lord, come!” or more literally, “The Lord is coming!”    The persecuted believers of the first century did not merely believe in the return of Christ as a distant doctrine. They cried out for it as the solution to every trial. They lived every day with the expectation that before the sun set, the trumpet might sound and the Lord might appear. That same expectant cry has been the distinguishing mark of every faithful generation since. The futuristic present of John 14:3 fueled their hope. Jesus is not merely going to come.    He is coming. The present tense makes the future certain and the certain future near. Additional passages of Scripture reinforce this truth with unyielding clarity. The apostle Paul describes the Rapture as the believer's “blessed hope” in Titus chapter two, verse thirteen: Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is not the appearing of wrath. It is the appearing of the great God and our Savior. It is blessed because it delivers the church from the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world.    It is glorious because it reveals Christ in His full majesty to those who love Him.   The apostle also writes in Philippians chapter three, verses twenty and twenty-one: For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.   The word “conversation” means citizenship.    The believer's true home is in heaven, and from that heavenly realm the Savior is expected at any moment. The transformation described here is the same as that in First Corinthians fifteen. The vile body—literally the body of humiliation—will be fashioned like unto His glorious body.  The power that will accomplish this is the same power that will one day subdue all things under His feet. Nothing is too hard for the One who spoke the universe into existence.   The doctrine of the Rapture is further confirmed in the closing words of the New Testament.    In Revelation chapter twenty-two, verse twenty, the ascended Lord Himself declares:   He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. And the response of the apostle is immediate and fervent: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.   Once again the language of certainty and imminence rings out. “Surely I come quickly.”    The same Lord who used the futuristic present in the Upper Room now seals the entire canon of Scripture with the promise of His soon return.   This constellation of biblical texts forms an unbreakable chain of truth. The futuristic present of John 14:3 is the grammatical foundation.    The detailed revelation of First Thessalonians four is the doctrinal exposition. The mystery of First Corinthians fifteen is the physiological description. The cry of Maranatha is the devotional response. The blessed hope of Titus two is the purifying motivation. The citizenship of Philippians three is the practical orientation. And the final prayer of Revelation twenty-two is the expectant climax.   Taken together, these passages challenge every believer to live in the white-hot expectancy of the Lord's return. The Rapture is not a doctrine to be debated in academic halls while life drifts on in complacency. It is a command to holiness.  The apostle John makes this explicit in First John chapter three, verses two and three: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.   The hope of seeing Christ and being made like Him is not an abstract idea. It is a sanctifying force. The one who truly believes that Jesus may come at any moment will not toy with sin. He will not waste his days on the trivial and the temporal. He will purify his life with the same purity that characterizes the Lord Himself.    Expectancy produces urgency. It produces separation from the world. It produces devotion to the Word. It produces zeal for the gospel. It produces love for the brethren.  It produces a life lived with eyes fixed on the eastern sky.   The early church understood this. They did not build elaborate systems of prophecy to delay the return of Christ. They did not resign themselves to the idea that the Rapture was for some future generation. They lived as though today could be the day. That same spirit must characterize every generation of believers until the trumpet sounds.    The futuristic present tense in John 14:3 is not a curious footnote for Greek students.  It is a divine declaration that resounds through the corridors of time: “I am coming.” The Lord is coming. Maranatha.    The Bridegroom is on the way.   The Rapture will be a moment of indescribable glory. In one atom of time the graves of the righteous dead will burst open. Bodies long decayed will be reconstituted in splendor. The living saints will feel the sudden surge of immortal power coursing through their veins. Then, together, they will be caught up. The clouds will become their chariot. The air will become the meeting place.  The Lord Himself will receive them. No more sorrow. No more pain. No more death.    Only the eternal embrace of the One who loved them and gave Himself for them. The place prepared in the Father's house will at last be occupied by the redeemed of all ages.    The marriage supper of the Lamb will begin. The church will be presented faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.   Until that day, the Scriptures call every follower of Christ to live in the light of this imminence. The doctrine of the Rapture is not an escape clause for the lazy. It is a summons to vigilance. It is a call to watchfulness.    It is a mandate to occupy until He comes.    The believer who has fixed his hope on the appearing of Christ will order his life accordingly. He will speak the truth in love. He will labor while it is day. He will warn the wicked. He will strengthen the weak. He will lift up the hands that hang down. He will keep his garments unspotted from the world.  He will cry out with the saints of old, “Maranatha—Our Lord, come!”   The futuristic present tense of John 14:3 still echoes across the centuries. Jesus is not planning to come. He is coming.    The grammar itself testifies to the certainty. The supporting texts confirm the details. The early church embodied the expectancy. And the Holy Spirit today stirs the hearts of all who will listen with the same urgent cry: the Lord is coming. Maranatha. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  The promise stands. The place is prepared. The trumpet is ready. The Bridegroom is at the door.   Let this truth sink deep into the soul. Let it shape every decision. Let it fuel every act of obedience. Let it purify every motive. The Lord Himself shall descend. The dead in Christ shall rise.    The living shall be changed. The redeemed shall be caught up. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. This is the Rapture. This is the blessed hope.    This is the promise of John 14:1-3, sealed by the futuristic present tense and proclaimed by the infallible Word of God.    Maranatha. Our Lord is coming. Amen.

May 6, 2026

Nowwe are going to continue in Philippians 2, and today we are talking about theright marks of spiritual unity. Yesterday we talked about the right motive forspiritual unity in the first verse which lead to these marks. “Therefore ifthere is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowshipof the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by beinglike-minded.” Then he goes on to say, “having the same love,being of one accord, of one mind.” Today, we want to look atthese four things: being like-minded, having the same love, being of oneaccord, and of one mind. These are the four marks of spiritual unity. Thesame mind means thinking the same way. Now this does not meanuniformity in every opinion. It means that our thinking is being shaped by themind of Christ. It has nothing to do with our preferences or opinions about howthings ought to be done in the church, or the music that should be sung—whetherit be contemporary or traditional. No, it means when it comes to the gospel ofJesus Christ and the very essentials of what our faith is about, we have unity,and we have the mind of Christ. First Corinthians 2:16 says, “we have themind of Christ.” The way we have this is that “we are not conformed tothis world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds” in theHoly Spirit and in the Word of God” (Romans 12:2). Second,we see the mark of the same love. Now this is not emotional preference,but deliberate, sacrificial love that seeks the good of others. Jesus said inJohn 13:34–35, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as Ihave loved you. By this all will know that you are My disciples if you havelove for one another.” In First John 3:16, “By this we know love,because He laid down His life for us.” What love is that? The love of Godin Christ Jesus through His death on the cross. We experience that love, and weare to have that same love for one another. Thenone accord, which literally means “one-souled”—hearts knit together indeep spiritual connection. Acts 4:32 tells us of the early church: “Now themultitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.” So we havethat as a mark of spiritual unity. Lastly,of one mind. This is having a single purpose—the glory of Jesus Christand the advancement of the gospel. Remember Paul said earlier in Philippians1:27 that we are “to stand fast in one spirit, with one mind strivingtogether for the faith of the gospel”. Sothis is not shallow unity. This is deep. It is Spirit-produced harmony. Infact, it reflects something very profound—it is the unity of the Trinityitself. Jesus prayed about this in John 17, that His followers would be one asHe and the Father are one. This is internal—and eternal too, for that matter.Paul is not focusing on rules or structure. He is focusing on our hearts, ourminds, and our attitudes. Whenthe Spirit produces this kind of unity, the church becomes something powerful,something attractive. It's like iron filings drawn to a magnet. Even whenpressures try to pull them apart, something stronger pulls them back together. Haveyou ever been a part of a church like that—one that is warm, loving, and has asense of belonging that is unmistakable? Oh, my friend, that is what we need inour country today: churches like that. Thisis what Paul calls for. You will notice it all begins when the truth of verse 1shapes the attitudes here of verse 2 in our hearts. God help us as we let Himdo that in us each and every day. God bless and may youhave a wonderful, wonderful day!

This message was brought to us by Pastor Brock on May 3, 2026 and continues our series on First Corinthians.

Myfriend, I will never forget something I read in Nik Ripken's book, “TheInsanity of God”. When he asked believers in China, who were being persecuted,how they endured such intense agony, pain, and suffering, they looked at him insurprise and said, “Haven't you read the Bible? Haven't you read the NewTestament?” It was the norm for believers in the first and second centuries tosuffer persecution—even into the 1500's through the 1600,s—for their faith inJesus Christ.  Myfriend, here in America we have no idea what that is like. Yet today, we aretold that the fastest-growing church in the world is in Iran. Do not forgetthat recently we were told that over thirty thousand people were executed bythe radical government there. Most of them were most likely believers who hadput their faith in Christ and were standing for truth. They chose to die ratherthan live without standing up for their faith in Jesus Christ. Thesuffering is not only there, but also in China, in Russia, in India, in Africa,and in parts of South America. The suffering is intense today. More believersare being persecuted, suffering and killed for their faith than at any othertime in Christian history. Yes, it could come to America, and it might not betoo far away. Paulsays “it has been granted” that you have been given this grace ofsuffering. He finishes by saying this in verse 30: “Having the same conflictwhich you saw in me and now hear is in me.” In other words, Paul is saying,“You are not alone.” You are going to suffer for Christ, but you are not alone.They no doubt remembered Paul's suffering in Acts chapter 16. He was beaten. Hewas imprisoned. Yet he kept praising God. Now they hear he is suffering inRome. And Paul is saying, “The same battle you face, I am facing.” Thisis so important because the enemy loves to whisper in our ears, “You are theonly one going through this. Nobody is suffering like you. Nobody has it as badas you have it.” But that is not true. First Peter 5:9 says, “Knowing thatthe same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” Weremember in First Corinthians 10:13, “That there is no trial, tribulation,or temptation that has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But Godis faithful.” Hebrews 12:1 reminds us that “we are surrounded by sogreat a cloud of witnesses”. The writer has just spoken of those who diedfor their faith. Weare part of something bigger: a global church, a spiritual family, a sharedmission. We are not alone—but most importantly, Christ is with us. In Hebrews13:5, Jesus says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So when youare in the battle, remember: others have walked this path, others are walkingit right now, and Christ walks it with you. Psalm 23:4 says, “Yea, though Iwalk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thouart with me.” Maywe live worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember, that is the verse thissection began with: “Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Sowhether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs—that youstand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of thegospel” (v. 27). Paul also encourages us with Romans 8:31-32: “What thenshall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He whodid not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He notwith Him also freely give us all things?” Inclosing, remember: Stand firm. Stand united. Do not fear opposition. Accepteven suffering as part of God's plan as we live—and determine to live—our livesand our faith for Jesus Christ. And Paul adds: “Andnot only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;  and perseverance,character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the loveof God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given tous.” (Romans 5:3-5)

The message of the sermon uses the illustration of “pie” versus “pi” to warn that confusing similar words can lead to deadly spiritual error, grounding this warning in Scripture by recalling Jesus' prophecy that “many will come in My name” (Gospel of Matthew 24:5), showing how false christs fulfill that warning, and by appealing to Romans 16:17, which commands believers to watch out for those who cause divisions contrary to apostolic teaching; it alludes to Gospel of John 1:9 in speaking of the “true Light” that comes into the world, contrasts false and true new birth with First Corinthians 12–14 regarding spiritual gifts, invokes the covenant name Yahweh revealed in Exodus 3:14–15, echoes prophetic confrontations with Baal in Hosea 2:16–17, and ultimately centers salvation on grace as defined in Ephesians 2:8–9, emphasizing that just as 3.14 is not coconut custard, the true Jesus Christ of the New Testament is not the counterfeit presented by false religions, and only precise faith in the biblically revealed Christ leads from Alpha to Omega. You can connect with Moriel in more locations than just YouTube! Check out all our official links on the About page: https://www.youtube.com/c/MorielTVministries/about.

Notes - https://www.generationword.com/notes/Framework_NOTES_2025/45-First_Corinthians.pdf

“Only let your conductbe worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or amabsent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with onemind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today we are continuing to look at verse 27 of Philippians 1.In the first part of the verse, the Apostle Paul talked about our conduct, ourconversation—our citizenship in heaven. We have citizenship on earth, but weshould live on earth as though we are citizens of heaven. We are different. Welive differently. You read this throughout all Paul's epistles. It is soimportant. Todaywe are going to continue with the last part of the verse, where the ApostlePaul writes: “So that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear ofyour affairs.” Here it is: “that you stand fast in one spirit, with onemind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Today we are talkingabout standing and striving together for the faith of the gospel. Now,the word “faith” here is not referring to our personal faith—like my faith inJesus Christ for salvation. The word “faith” here refers to the truth—the truthof Scripture, the truth of the gospel. The gospel is the power of God untosalvation to everyone who believes. The gospel is the death, burial, andresurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the good news for every person whowill trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life. TheApostle Paul now shifts from what we might call citizenship to teamwork. Andthe first thing he writes is, “Stand fast.” That phrase means tohold your ground, like a soldier in battle. First Corinthians 16:13 says, “Standfast in the faith. Be strong. Be brave.” Ephesians 6:11 reminds us to“put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wilesof the devil.” To stand—to stand fast—is to hold your ground. We are in aspiritual battle, but my friend, we are not standing alone. Thenthe Apostle Paul writes, “with one spirit and with one mind strivingtogether.” That phrase “striving together” gives us our wordathletics. It paints a picture of a team working together toward one goal. TheChristian life is not a solo race—it is a team effort. Buthere is the reality: our enemy, the enemy of the church, the enemy ofChristianity, loves division. “Divide and conquer” is still his strategy. Evenin Philippi, there were tensions. We will see that when we get to Philippians4:2. That is why Paul emphasizes one spirit, one mind, one purpose. InPhilippians 2:2, he writes, “Be like-minded, having the same love, being ofone accord, of one mind.” No doubt that is why Jesus said in John 13:35, “Bythis all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for oneanother.” Unity is not optional—it is essential. A divided church isa defeated church, but a united church is a powerful church for the glory ofGod. Ilove the quote we have used for years in the churches I pastored: “Inessentials, we have unity. In non-essentials, we have liberty. But in allthings, we have charity.” The Bible reminds us in Romans 12:5, “We, beingmany, are one body in Christ.” So we are to stand fast in the truth. We areto work together in love. We are to strive together for the sake of the gospel. Whyis that? Because the main thing we are to be about as a church—and asindividuals—is sharing Jesus Christ with people who are lost, who are in theirsins, and who are headed for a devil's hell. We are their only hope. The churchis the institution God has placed on earth to share and carry forth His greatgood news. Matthew 28:19–20. Myfriend, let us make sure we stand fast. Let us hold our ground. Let us worktogether with other believers in unity for the sake of the gospel. We will beblessed as individuals. We will be a blessed church. And we will be excitedabout what God is doing as we join Him on His mission—telling the good news ofChrist to a lost world around us.

Pastor David Harris Wednesday April 29, 2026

April 29, 2026

Todaywe are moving on to the last verses of chapter 1 of Philippians, verses 27–30: “Onlylet your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ... Remember,Paul is writing from prison. He is writing to this church at Philippi, tellingthem they can have joy in their lives despite the circumstances they might befacing in a Roman Empire that was full of debauchery, wickedness, violence, andevil. It sounds very much like the world we live in today. Heis telling them here in these verses: live worthy of the gospel. Look atthis very first statement—a powerful one: “Only let your conduct beworthy of the gospel of Christ.” “Monon” (only), is placed at the beginningof the sentence in the Greek text for emphasis. This is a strong word,emphasizing that this is very important. What truly mattered was theirconsistent, holy conduct. Above all, Paul wanted their lives to reflectworthily on the gospel of Christ. Theword “conduct” here, in some translations, is “conversation,” but itactually means “citizenship.” That word is also very important. Paul isbasically saying, live like citizens of heaven. Philippi was a Roman colony,and the people took great pride in being Roman citizens. You may remember thatafter the Apostle Paul had been beaten there in Philippi, they were going torelease him, and he said, “I am a citizen of Rome, and you cannot treat Romancitizens this way—beating me and throwing me into prison without a trial.” Theywere afraid, because citizenship meant a great deal to these people, especiallyin that community. Pauluses that picture to say: you belong to a greater kingdom—the kingdom ofheaven—so live like it. In fact, in Philippians 3:20, he says, “For ourcitizenship is in heaven.” As believers, you and I have two citizenships:one in the country and world in which we live, and one in heaven. But, myfriend, our greater citizenship is in heaven. And with citizenship comesprivileges, honors, and also responsibilities. Asa citizen of heaven, what a wonderful privilege it is to belong to thatkingdom—but it also carries great responsibility. That is why Paul says, letyour life, your conduct, your conversation be a testimony. Many people neverread the Bible, but they will read your life. That is why the Apostle Paulemphasized consistency—not just in what we say, but in how we live. Hewrote the same to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 4:1: “Walk worthy ofthe calling with which you were called.” He said the same to the Colossianchurch in Colossians 1:10: “Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.” Weare not trying to earn our salvation, because we are already saved. But weshould reflect Jesus Christ. So we are to walk worthy of what? The gospel. Thegospel is a message that changes lives. First Corinthians 15:3–4 tells us whatthe gospel is: Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again. Thisis the message that brings salvation. It is powerful. And, my friend, thatmessage should be reflected in our lives—transformed, resurrected lives inChrist Jesus. Old things have passed away; all things have become new (2Corinthians 5:17). Sowhat happens then? We reflect the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you: ifsomeone saw your life—and that was the only thing they could see—what wouldthey think the gospel is? We are writing the gospel every day: With our words.With our actions. And with our attitudes. That is why Jesus said in Matthew5:16, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good worksand glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Sotoday, let us live like citizens of heaven—worthy of the gospel of JesusChrist. Godbless and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day!

Pastor David Harris Wednesday April 22, 2026

This message, continuing our series on First Corinthians, was preached by Pastor Brock on April 26, 2026.

This week we continue on in our series called We Are His.We're studying First Corinthians, and this week we find ourselves in chapter fourteen. Pastor Blake takes a look at this chapter and examines the gift of tongues. What does it mean to speak in tongues and what does it look like if we're going to use our spiritual gifts to build one another up in love?

April 22, 2026

In this powerful episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony and Jesse return to their parable series with an in-depth examination of the Laborers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. This often-misunderstood parable confronts our natural inclination toward merit-based thinking and exposes the scandal of God's grace. The hosts unpack the covenantal language embedded in the text, particularly the workers' "grumbling"—a loaded term echoing Israel's wilderness rebellion. Through careful exegesis and theological reflection, they demonstrate how this parable dismantles religious entitlement while celebrating God's sovereign freedom to bestow mercy according to His purposes, not our calculations. The discussion offers fresh insights into grace, election, and the radical generosity that defines God's kingdom economy. Key Takeaways The parable operates on covenant logic, not economic fairness: The landowner's dealings with his workers reflect covenantal promise-keeping rather than marketplace transactions, establishing that God's relationship with His people is fundamentally gracious. "Grumbling" carries profound theological weight: The Greek word used for the workers' complaint is the same term in the Septuagint for Israel's wilderness rebellion—not mere dissatisfaction, but a covenantal accusation against God's faithfulness. Two types of workers represent two approaches to God: The first-hired workers who contracted for specific wages represent those relating to God through legal obligation and merit, while later workers who trusted the owner's promise represent faith-based relationship. The reversal of payment order is narratively essential: By paying the last workers first, the landowner deliberately exposes the merit-based assumptions of the first workers, forcing them to confront their entitlement. Grace doesn't negate justice—it transcends it: The landowner fulfills every contractual obligation while simultaneously exercising sovereign generosity beyond what is owed, demonstrating that mercy and justice coexist in God's character. The parable addresses the present kingdom, not just heaven: Because it includes grumbling and complaint, this parable describes life in God's kingdom now—the "already but not yet"—rather than the consummated state. Divine sovereignty in salvation is the theological climax: The landowner's declaration "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?" directly addresses God's freedom in election and the scandal of unmerited grace. Key Ideas The Covenantal Nature of the Landowner's Dealings The parable's opening establishes a formal agreement between the landowner and the first workers: one denarius for a day's labor. This contractual arrangement is crucial for understanding what follows. Unlike marketplace haggling, this represents a covenant—the landowner binds himself to provide what he has promised. Tony emphasizes that even this initial contract is an act of condescension and grace, as the master had no obligation to employ anyone at all. As the day progresses, subsequent workers are hired with increasingly less formal agreements. By the third hour, the landowner promises only "whatever is right," and by the eleventh hour, no wage is even mentioned. These later workers enter the vineyard based entirely on the landowner's character and trustworthiness. This progression mirrors the movement from law to gospel—from contractual obligation to trusting promise. The theological implication is profound: those who relate to God based on His gracious word rather than calculated merit are actually in a more secure position than those who attempt to earn their standing through works. The Wilderness Echo: Grumbling as Covenant Violation The hosts make a critical exegetical observation about the Greek word for "grumbling" (γογγύζω) used in verse 11. This is not casual complaining but the identical term used throughout the Septuagint to describe Israel's covenant rebellion in the wilderness. When the workers grumble "upon receiving" their wages, they're not merely expressing disappointment about pay inequality—they're filing a covenant lawsuit against the master, accusing him of unfaithfulness. This connection to Numbers 16 and Exodus 16-17 is devastating. The Israelites' wilderness grumbling wasn't about logistics or comfort; it was fundamentally about doubting God's covenant fidelity. By employing this loaded terminology, Matthew signals that the first workers' complaint is nothing less than accusing God of covenant violation. The landowner's response ("Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?") is a covenant defense—he has fulfilled his obligations precisely. The workers' real offense is not miscalculation but begrudging God's freedom to show mercy beyond what is contractually required. The "Evil Eye" and Begrudging God's Grace The final rhetorical question—"Or do you begrudge my generosity?"—contains another Jewish idiom often lost in translation. The Greek literally reads, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" This "evil eye" imagery appears throughout Scripture as a metaphor for envy, stinginess, and resentment toward another's blessing. The landowner's question cuts to the heart: are you cursing me for being generous? This directly parallels Jonah's response to Nineveh's salvation. Jonah had just experienced miraculous deliverance through the great fish, yet when God showed identical mercy to the Ninevites, Jonah's response was essentially, "I knew you were gracious—that's why I ran!" The parable exposes the same perverse logic: those who have received covenant mercy begrudging that same mercy extended to others. For the Pharisees listening to Jesus, this was an indictment of their resentment toward tax collectors and sinners receiving the kingdom. For Christians today, it challenges any sense of spiritual superiority based on how long we've been in the kingdom or how much we've sacrificed. Memorable Quotes Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? That 'or' is a logical connector—either I'm not allowed to do what I want with my belongings, which is ridiculous, or if I am allowed, then you must be mad at me for being generous. Those are the only options. — Tony Arsenal The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation. These workers aren't just complaining about not getting what they thought they would—they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. — Tony Arsenal Most of us are this eleventh-hour call. It's much better to be in the place of that younger brother who comes in and repents than to be the older brother who is stubborn and finds some reason to come before God with self-righteous grievances. — Jesse Schwamb Full Episode Transcript [00:01:05] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 488 of the Reformer Brotherhood. I'm Jesse  [00:01:13] Tony Arsenal: and I am still Tony, and this is the podcast where Tony comes back. Hey brother.  [00:01:19] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. The band is back together again, man. It's reunited and boy, do you feel it? It feels good, doesn't  [00:01:26] Tony Arsenal: it? I do, I do. I'm excited to come back. It was nice to take a break. [00:01:29] Jesse Schwamb: Good.  [00:01:29] Tony Arsenal: I, uh, I've been, you know, texted with you a couple times. Just it was, I did my best to sort of not think about the podcast because that's sort of defeats the purpose of taking a break from something if you spend a lot of time thinking about it. Um, so I'm back. I'm refreshed. I'm ready to go.  [00:01:44] Break and Work Chaos [00:01:44] Tony Arsenal: I appreciate the listeners' patience. Uh, it's been sort of a weird, crazy busy time at work. Uh, there's a lot going on. I, I lost like. 60% of my staff in the course of like three weeks. And, um, I'm still kind of in the thick of it, but we're coming out of it. So took a little bit of time to just make sure that I was having a, an appropriate space to de-stress from that and take care of my family and attend to worship. And, um, it was really a, a blessing to have that. Uh, sort of sabbatical. Ironically, the sabbatical wars were going on at the same time on Twitter, and Jesse is blissfully unaware of that 'cause he's not involved in in the Twitter. That's true. Um, but yeah, just took a little break and it's kinda like overblown it, to call it a sabbatical. Like this is a podcast, it's a hobby, but, but it was nice to have, uh, a little bit of extra time, you know, couple hours extra week, uh, uh, each week of extra time to just decompress and, uh, play with the kids and spend time with my wife and clean the house a little bit, which was good.  [00:02:36] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it is always good to have a clean house. You look great. You seem refreshed. The voice sounds good, and I'm like, I don't know, in year seven or eight of my Twitter sabbatical, it's going great so far. I feel like I haven't missed a whole lot. The world still seems wild and I'm sure, or X, right? We gotta go X on this. It's  [00:02:53] Tony Arsenal: always Twitter. It's always gonna be Twitter. I don't care what Elon Musk  says.  [00:02:56] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I'm listen. I'm totally fine with that.  [00:02:58] Back to Parables [00:02:58] Jesse Schwamb: And I teased this in the last episode, but we can't be stopped. I mean, people should know this by now, we have an inexorable march through the parables of Jesus's true. That will not be stopped. We're always gonna come back until there are no more. And on this episode, we're gonna be hanging out in Matthew 20, talking about laborers in the Kingdom of Heaven.  [00:03:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. I'm, I'm, I'm excited to get back into it. I'm excited to get back into the word together with everybody. I'm excited to clear whatever that was on in my throat out  [00:03:27] Jesse Schwamb: emotion,  [00:03:27] Tony Arsenal: live on the air. Uh, but yeah, it'll be good. I'm, I'm stoked. I mean, I love this stuff and it's good to be back.  [00:03:32] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, you had the rest. Now let's talk about labor. So speaking of labor, it's, it's time for you to work up here, Tony. Are you affirming with or denying against on this episode?  [00:03:42] Tony Arsenal: Uh, I'm affirming something and I'm hopeful, uh, that just a little behind the scenes activity here. Jesse recorded episode 487, like an hour and a half ago. I have not yet listened to it, so I don't know if you did an affirmation and I I did. If you did. I hope it's not the same one.  [00:03:58] Jesse Schwamb: I did not. You're  [00:03:59] Tony Arsenal: safe. Uh, good. So I'm safe.  [00:04:01] Artemis II Hype [00:04:01] Tony Arsenal: So, um, I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um, oh, nice. Have you been, I mean, I know you're not on Twitter, but I'm sure there's news elsewhere. Uh, this amazing mission around the moon, um, for astronaut, for astronauts, I think, um, the furthest man space travel, um, since the Apollo program. Um. Pretty intense, pretty amazing pictures, right? The camera technologies amazing. Increased exponentially, uh, since we were there last. Um, this is ostensibly in preparation for an actual moon landing, which who knows when that will be? Um, but as far as I've seen, the mission was a resounding success. There was no right. I think they had, they ran into a few little hiccups early on with some technical things, but nothing crazy. I have not heard. Um, I know they did touch down and they did reentry. Um, I've not heard anything one way or another, but I'm assuming since I have not heard terrible, tragic news that they made it through, did they do the reentry? I'm really, apparently I'm not actually paying as much attention to this as I thought I was. I saw a lot of information about reentry, but I guess, I don't know for sure when that happened or is happening.  [00:05:05] Jesse Schwamb: I mean, by this point, when people listen to it, it'll be old news anyway, right? So  [00:05:09] Tony Arsenal: For sure. Yeah. And either, either it went terribly wrong and I'm gonna feel awful, or it went fine and I'm gonna feel a little silly for. Throwing a caveat that it went terribly wrong out there. But, um, it's cool. It's, it's amazing. I mean, I, I commented to my wife the other day and she's kinda like, yeah, maybe we should like, spend that money on people who are on the planet. I was like, okay, I can, I can buy that wisdom. But, um, there's something very cool and very Genesis, uh, one, ask Genesis one and two, ask about flying out into space and taking dominion over Yeah, for sure. Over a, a little ball of rock, uh, you know, uh, 25,000 miles away or whatever it is. Um. And, you know, I'm like an engineering nerd. I, I don't know anything about engineering, but I love watching YouTube videos that explain stuff like this. And  [00:05:52] Jesse Schwamb: me  [00:05:52] Tony Arsenal: too, all of the videos that have cropped up now about free return and how, like they're able to basically like do minimal burn on the thrusters to get into the right trajectory and then just like meet the moon in the place it's gonna be. And then the, you know, the moon's gravity captures it and whips it back around and then shoots it back towards Earth. And for the most part, they're able to do all of that with relatively minor, um, relatively minor energy output because they're just utilizing physics and gravity and math, um, to fly to the moon and come back. Yes. It's pretty crazy amazing. So, yeah. Amazing. And the photos of like the, the sort of like new versions of the Earthrise photos are really, really phenomenal. Um, they're crisp, they're clean, they're obviously like the best, the best actual pho photographic images we've had of the lunar surface. Um. And the, the far side of the lunar surface, which we get all sorts of like telescopic photos and things of this side of the lunar surface because it's tightly locked and is facing us at all times. We don't get a ton of really great photography of the far side of the moon, which is a big part of what this mission was, so,  [00:06:56] Jesse Schwamb: right.  [00:06:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. If you haven't seen the photos, I mean, they're out there, they're amazing. There will be even more available once we get back. You know, they, they're transmitting only the most stellar, amazing ones. Um, and, but they're taking, I'm sure thousands and thousands of photos and, um, so yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um. It's just amazing what, what people can do with common grace, you know? That's right. In insight into nature. Um, I don't know anything about the astronauts. I don't know anything about their religious faith or their spiritual life or anything like that. But, um, the people who design this, the people who fly it, they're just tapping into the truth that's present in God's creation. So good on them. Uh, either I'm glad they got home, wish they have a safe home coming, or something along those lines, I guess. I don't know.  [00:07:40] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, you'll be happy to know that NASA is reporting that the four astronauts are an excellent condition after they landed in the Pacific Ocean. So  [00:07:47] Tony Arsenal: good.  [00:07:47] Jesse Schwamb: All, all appears to be well. And it says they have a giant SD card of pictures that's they've been taking. Yeah. And saving. I'm sure. They were just, they were just too big to send to over wifi.  [00:07:58] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Like massive wideness. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure they have a ton that they didn't send because you know Right. Data rates to the moon are pretty high. Yeah.  [00:08:05] Jesse Schwamb: Ex. Yeah.  [00:08:05] Tony Arsenal: This economy is crazy. So  [00:08:07] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly. In this economy. Really In this economy. Yeah, exactly.  [00:08:11] Cosmic Worship Reflections [00:08:11] Jesse Schwamb: I think you're right. This is good. I haven't talked about this at all. It's hard not to get just stoked, even in the amateur way about the science, the technology, the physics of all this stuff, and then even the astronauts just being overwhelmed by what they're seeing. [00:08:24] Tony Arsenal: Mm-hmm.  [00:08:25] Jesse Schwamb: It's hard not to get pulled into that and think about the universe that God has created and find that there is something transcendent just, uh, by observing all of these things. Yeah. Like even casually, which I think shows, again, this is literally the, the heavens and the earth crying out for God, showing his immeasurable power and, you know, immortal nature. It's incredible that we can even see and be a part of some of these things. Just wild.  [00:08:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, and I think it's crazy that they can get signals to the moon. I mean, I drive home from Dartmouth College and I go through half of the spot there, and I don't have a cell signal, but we can get images from the moon. Um, so yeah, it's great. It's great. Check it out if you haven't seen it. If you haven't heard about it, I don't know what you're doing. Uh, this is probably the largest major scientific advancement in our generation. Um, in terms of like big scale scientific enterprise projects. There's been a lot of really amazing technology that's been developed. But this is like the first big. Almost like risky kind of scientific,  [00:09:30] Jesse Schwamb: right?  [00:09:30] Tony Arsenal: I dunno. Gambit or I dunno, gamble that we've done in a long time. Big deal. I mean, big a lot. Deal of things. Deal. Nothing went wrong. Nothing ma major went wrong. Praise God that they all got back to the planet safely. Right. But, um, a lot of things could have gone wrong, uh, and they didn't. So check out the photos, check out the scientific data they're gonna get. I mean, I'm sure they've got all sorts of information about the way the, the, the space ship moved, all of that stuff. It's gonna be really interesting to see kind of how this all comes about.  [00:09:56] Jesse Schwamb: Get some worship on, right? Yeah. I mean this is what a one, a thing to be reminded about how big and how glorious God is. [00:10:01] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:10:01] Jesse Schwamb: And, and to realize, like you said, the risks of this exploration. And this is God again, creating all of this outta nothing. Why? Yeah. Just absolutely wild. Incredible.  [00:10:12] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, for  [00:10:12] Jesse Schwamb: sure. Blown away.  [00:10:13] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. What about you, Jesse? What do you have for us?  [00:10:15] Bayes and Predictability [00:10:15] Jesse Schwamb: I got affirmation. It's equally nerdy, and actually this is as is always the case. This is why one of many reasons I miss you is it, it dovetails so nicely, so I'm affirming with a book. It's called Everything Is Predictable, how Esy and Statistics Explains the World. It's by a guy named Tom Chivers. I know this sounds super nerdy, but hear me out on this because Thomas Bayes, if you don't know this guy is first kind of like a wild and interesting guy, but this whole theory he put forward is super interesting. And this book is not like a mathematics book. It's like reads almost like a statistical thriller, which as it came outta my mouth, realized it was not maybe more ingratiating. I could have chosen better words than statistical thriller. But Thomas Bayes was alive in the 17 hundreds. And what's interesting to me at least about him, is he was an English statistician, who was a Presbyterian minister actually. He was a non-conformist and his, this whole theorem that he developed was actually published after his death. And the non-conformist part is super interesting. It's all in this book, even some of his different theological ideas. But because he was non-conformist, it basically meant like he couldn't learn. He was kicked out of all the English universities. He had to go to Scotland. Even all of that shaped how he came up with this particular theorem. But the gist of it is. Rather than treating like probabilities, as we think about it as this fixed frequency, you know, how many times does this thing occur? He argued and realized that it should represent a degree of belief and then you would update that belief rationally as new evidence comes in. And I know that sounds super quaint, but this is like what machine learning is based on medical diagnosis. A lot of like space travel is based on this in terms of understanding uncertainty and systems spam, all of that stuff. Here's an example, I think Tony, because we are, we have to carry forward with the top 50 medical podcast thing, right? We've got going on here. Lemme just give everybody an example of why you need this and why you automatically think this way. So. Statistics is really important, especially in medical testing. This was really prevalent in during COVID. So there's two ways that you can describe how a medical test performs you. You know this already, Tony, you're an expert. So one would be like sensitivity. So like how AIG  [00:12:19] Tony Arsenal: not an expert.  [00:12:20] Jesse Schwamb: Oh, you're definitely an expert in testing. Here we go. So one would be like sensitivity. How good is the test at catching people who are sick? So if you're sick, you, you want the test to identify that, that you're sick. That's sensitivity. So a test with a 99% sensitivity is gonna correctly identify 99 out of a hundred people who are truly sick. It always gonna miss one person. It's a false negative. The other half of that coin is something called specificity. So if sensitivity is all about catching the people who are sick, specificity is gonna say, how good is the test at clearing people who are not sick? And so a test with 99% specificity, you might have correctly guessed, is gonna identify or clear 99 out of a hundred healthy people. Now if you have a test. Both of those 99% sensitive and 99% specific, you might be thinking, that is the dream. That's exactly what I want. That that test is gonna be so precise and accurate. How could my intuition fail me? But this is the thing. It actually fails all the time, and here's why. Let's say that. You go out and you screen a group of people, a general population for a rare disease that affects one in a thousand people. One in a thousand people, rare disease. So if you screen 10,000 people from the general population, that means that truly only 10 of them are going to have the actual disease. I'm not gonna do all the math 'cause it'll, oh, this is already making for amazing podcasting. But here's the bottom line. That test, which sounds so good on the face, is going to identify 109 people as truly sick or truly having disease. But the problem is that only 10 of them actually have it. That means that only there's, it only has a success rate of 9%. There's only 9% chance you actually have the disease, but it's falsely identified. The short end of this is Bayes corrects that problem. He fixes it with his theorem so that we get to the right number of people. That's what's called like a base fallacy rate. It's not taking into account that really only 10 people should have this particular disease or this sickness. So I know that's sounds super nerdy, but so much of our lives are based on this. We have a prior belief or a prior set of things that we understand about the world. And then as evidence comes in, we refine that. That sounds so normal and normative, but it's revolutionary in this book actually. Bayes versus what's called like frequentist or frequent, um, probability is like hotly debated. People actually throw down over this theorem. So it's a really fun read. Go check out. Everything is predictable. Al Bayesian statistics explains our world. It really is for everybody. And then you can impress your friends with all the statistical pross you're gonna have when you're done reading it.  [00:14:56] Tony Arsenal: Like the medical administrator hat that I can't always take off is like, why would we screen 10,000 people? Are, are they all symptomatic? Are none of them symptomatic? But suppose it doesn't really  [00:15:08] Jesse Schwamb: matter for the example. That's a great, so generally what happens here is, let's say it's like some kind of rare form of cancer, unless you use Bayesian statistics, what you'll find is you'll get these false positive rates. So these tests do use Bayesian statistics. It corrects, in other words, for this problem. So there might be a lot of people that are gonna screen for this because if you, you wanna know if you have it, but you don't wanna get it wrong and say that you do. So this ensures his approach ensures that you get it. Right. It's wild. Fascinating stuff.  [00:15:34] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and I would think actually, you know, there's probably, there's other mechanisms as well where they would, where they would sort of screen out. People that shouldn't be tested or help identify false negatives, false positives. Um, but yeah, that's, that's interesting. I probably won't read that book, but it sounds like an interesting read. I just don't have a lot of room on my A TBR shelf.  [00:15:55] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, listen. That, that's fair.  [00:15:57] Goodreads DNF Update [00:15:57] Jesse Schwamb: By the way, here's like a, a side affirmation. I think you and I both share speaking like books and cataloging books. If you use Good Reads, good Reads. Right. Finally adding a list of the Do Not Did Not Finish book. That's fantastic. This, this might be an example for some people, so pick it up and even if you don't have a place for it, guess where you can put it on the did not finish list. Yeah. Good Reads.  [00:16:16] Tony Arsenal: That's finally, that's one of those like, like why didn't they add that 15 years ago? Kind of an updates and you get the email and they're like, we're so excited to introduce the did Not Finish thing. And we're like, yeah. Like of course. Like, duh. It's likes, like, we're proud to introduce that. Your keypad now has a zero on it.  [00:16:36] Jesse Schwamb: Right. So  [00:16:37] Tony Arsenal: yeah. I'm, I'm excited about the DNR, um, the DNF, um, I'm so excited. I can't even remember what it's called. Yeah. The shelf. But, uh, very, very useful. The DNR list  [00:16:47] Jesse Schwamb: is a diff it is a different list. Speaking of medical things, it's a different  [00:16:50] Tony Arsenal: list. Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely a different thing. Usually it's not a list. It's a list of one in most cases.  [00:16:56] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly,  [00:16:57] Tony Arsenal: yeah. You can't put other people on your  [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: DNR  [00:17:00] Tony Arsenal: This,  [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: I suppose. Yeah, I should clarify that. You can really, you can only really put yourself, or I suppose somebody for whom you have that kind of authority over on that list, but I was thinking that more from like a medical perspective, that somewhere there would be a database in which there might be a list of DNR. I don't know.  [00:17:15] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I'm not sure. Probably there was at some point, but I think with medical chart technology now, that's probably like a. A moot point. Yeah. They don't need to be able to like cross reference a master list anymore. They just look in the patient's electronic record. We're really like in the weeds here. You can tell it's been a while since I've, I've podcasted. I don't really remember how to do this.  [00:17:35] Jesse Schwamb: This is great.  [00:17:36] Segue to Matthew 20 [00:17:36] Jesse Schwamb: I think at this point we try to make some kind of awkward segue that is mildly successful. Again, probably has statistically like a 20 to 27% chance of being successful and really hitting the mark. Yeah. So do you have anything that's gonna move us into this?  [00:17:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, I feel like you've been podcasting for the last several weeks without me and I've been working hard and now I'm kind of coming in as Johnny come lately and we're gonna get paid the same amount so. Even though you've worked harder for longer and I'm coming in late to the game here. [00:18:03] Jesse Schwamb: Oh man. Ple loved ones. Please tell me you got that. Please tell me you got all of that. That's, that's what you show up for here. Yeah, that was  [00:18:10] Tony Arsenal: a deep cut.  [00:18:11] Jesse Schwamb: That, that was beautiful. And I think leads us right into Matthew 20. So I think we've got at least 16 verses to get through here. Maybe again, if we're gonna keep a statistical theme here, something about engineering and math, all that stuff, we'll let everybody else pick the over under and whether or not we're gonna get through this and how many verses that's going to be. But at this point, we might as well begin.  [00:18:32] Tony Arsenal: Yes. Yeah.  [00:18:33] Read the Parable [00:18:33] Tony Arsenal: I'll start by reading. Uh, we're here in Matthew chapter 20, the first 16 versus this is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard and it reads. For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborer laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into the vineyard and going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, I will give you. So they went, going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one has hired us. And he said to them, you go into the vineyard too. And when the evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and pay them with their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house saying, these last worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. And he replied to one of them, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me? For a denarius, take what belongs to you and go, I choose to give the last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you beg, do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first will be last. Now I just wanna head this off. I did bite my tongue earlier and I probably am lisping and this is like a running gag. We thought that we'd resolved it. Uh, so if you hear me stumble over my words a little bit, it's just, it's just the struggle bus today.  [00:20:24] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, this is the, these are like the real things we have to deal with when the podcasting, like the real threats, the real injuries. I appreciate you like working through it. Like you just get back up and you walk it off with your tongue.  [00:20:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, my, my, uh, my podcasting hiatus was actually just a recovery of the last time I bit my tongue. I just needed a couple weeks to, no, I'm just kidding.  [00:20:43] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, we didn't wanna say.  [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:20:44] Kingdom Fairness and Grumbling [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: So, Jesse, this is a, this is a parable that follows right on the heels, um, of kind of everything we've been talking about. And I think as we go through these parables and we look at them and we, we sort of pick them up and we look at the different facets of them, we sort of compare them to each other. We kind of, we kind of place them in their context really. They all have basically the same theme, right? Like they're all kind of circulating around these same topics. In this parable, it's circulating around this idea that, um, the, the owner of the vineyard, the master of the vineyard, is allowed to pay the people he employs whatever he wants. And as long as the payment that is due to an individual is received by that individual, then what other people receive and how they receive it and how hard they've worked and how hard they didn't work. That's really not germane to whether or not the, the laborer received a fair wage, uh, in the first place. Right. So we're, we're circling around themes of kind of fairness of, uh, of sort of resentment, I think for resentment at the master's generosity, which has been a big theme in previous ones. So this will be good for us to expand on. There's always little nuggets and kernels of things that are different from other parables, and then it's interesting to always see the ways that they kind of line up and, and tell us similar things.  [00:21:57] Jesse Schwamb: And this parable is unique to Matthew. Yeah. And it does function as this exposition or expansion of what Jesus says in chapter 19 where it says, but many who are first will be last. And the last first, which is repeated with this lovely like inverted emphasis in, at the end of this as you just read. So it belongs to this like interesting cluster of teacher teachings on discipleship and reward nature of the kingdom of God. And we've, we've spoken a lot about that. I think I was just reminded of this as you were, you were. Reading this, I feel like I remember this from some teaching, like this parable is kind of like a unique chiasm that's anchored on the landowner, sovereign generosity, which you brought up. And then there's the complaints of the first hired, which is mirrored by the late comers vulnerability. And then the landowners, two speeches which divide everything, kind of provide sandwich and the like, the theological climax. It does start in that really familiar way, which we've gotten accustomed to thinking about that introductory formula of the kingdom of heaven is like, and it signals of course that what follows is not gonna be a lesson in economics, but it's gonna use all this economic language as theological disclosure for how God's kingdom operates. And it starts again, like you said, with this master of the house, which to me seems. Pretty clearly like a, a God figure himself. Yeah. It's, that's kind of like a reoccurring mathian image. I think. So we've got this vineyard, which of course has all this symbolism, steeply rooted in Israel's covenant imagination and evokes God's people and his redemptive labor among them. So, man, now that I'm saying this all loud, is this thing like super pregnant with all kinds of like imagery and meaning?  [00:23:27] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, it's, it's always good to remember, although parables have kind of some parables, most parables have sort of distinct discreet, symbolic elements where like, this represents that this represents that almost in an allegorical form. And, and in some cases, like purely in allegorical form, where it's like pilgrim's progress where each, each individual, each entity, each location each represents some sort of symbolic value. But we have to remember that when, when it says the parable of the kingdom of heaven is like the master of the house, it's not just like the master of the house. Yes. Right. It's like this whole scenario. Yes. It's, it's like. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like everything that follows, it's like the entire, um, the entire paree here. That's what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. And one of the things that I think is striking about this is the kingdom of heaven is like some people complaining, like the people complaining about, some people are getting the same wage for less work. Um, that is part of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. So I think we sometimes think of, of. The kingdom of heaven in, um, in the parables, we think of it as though God is just saying, this is what heaven is like. Right? Jesus Just saying like, this is what heaven is like, but the kingdom of heaven, that language is broader than what we normally would say, uh, is. We're thinking of heaven, like in the, the spiritual abode where God lives and the angels live. Um, where, where the departed saints are waiting for the resurrection, the kingdom of heaven is, is also inclusive of the, the sort of like. Time now between the victory of Christ on the cross and the consummation of the kingdom and the last day, the kingdom of heaven is inclusive of that time period too. And so this parable sort of situates us. I think it situates us in that pre consummated state where we're talking about what it's like to be a part of the kingdom of heaven here and now in our fallen state, but still solidly in the kingdom of heaven. 'cause there's not gonna be any complaining or grumbling about God's justice in God's fairness once we're in the final resurrected state. Right? Sure. Nobody's gonna be looking back and be like, yeah, you were way too gracious for that guy. Nobody's gonna be playing the Jonah part when we're all resurrected and we're worshiping for, for all time going forward. So this parable, because there are elements of. Dissatisfaction or elements of grumbling or complaining similar to like the, the parable of the prodigal son. There's this sun figure, the, the older sun figure who like is just a bonehead and doesn't get it. Well, that can't be talking about the people who are in the resurrection kingdom in the final kingdom. It's gotta be talking about people who are still awaiting the resurrection of the body and who are still not yet. Uh, and even in, in that parable, the, the older son doesn't even seem to be a figure who's, who's regener. Maybe he does become regener at some point in the future, but he doesn't seem to be. In, even in God's kingdom, he doesn't seem to be, even among God's people, he's consistently placed outside of the field. You don't even know he exists until Nick halfway through the parable. This is similar in that there are these workers, they're receiving their wages and some of them are, are outwardly dissatisfied and grumbling against the master of the house. Um, so I think if we think about parables as describing heaven rather than the kingdom of heaven, we can lose sight of, of what's actually being said in a lot of them. [00:26:50] Contracts Versus Grace [00:26:50] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's really good stuff because it strikes me that there are like, strangely, two groups here mentioned, I, I find this really kind of fascinating. We, I think we should talk about this, like the first group has like the most formal agreement, it's almost a legal contract, right? Various was like a standard day laborers wage sufficient mostly for subsistence. And so that detail seems theologically loaded to me. These workers relate to the landowner on the basis of a contract and what is owed. And so their claim at the end of the day will be exactly that. They're owed something and they know it, and that sets up Then this contrast with a second group, which is mostly all about grace because by the time we get to that third hour, like. Approximately like 9:00 AM then we're beginning this pattern repeated at the sixth and the ninth hours. And crucially, for those workers who go out, go out and get recruited, there's no wage that's specified for them. Only the promise of like whatever is right. And so they enter the vineyard, not on the basis of a contract, but on the basis of like the owner's word and character. And that seems to be like more of a picture of trust and not, not calculation. Yeah. Separate than like the first group. And that marketplace, idleness, as I read this, doesn't imply like laziness because verse seven clarifies like they just had not been hired. Right? They were overworked, they were unemployed. They were marginalized. So it does set up, like you said, everything you just talked about, about the kind of this, I like that. Like the Jonah, the Jonah whiners or whatever, like yeah, they want to complain about this, right? There are, and there are two, two separate groups that have kind of been brought into the fold, not under different terms or pretenses, but differently. [00:28:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I think too, bear's saying, um. Although there are elements of parables that are very, very directly applicable. Mm. We shouldn't read this as though every, every specific thing in the parable is not a parable. Right. Right. I think we can look at this and we can go, you know, you can read this in a way where, oh yeah, there's some people actually earn their, earn their wage, they earn ary. Right. It's a fair contract. And they work all day and he says, well, I'm gonna give you what's right, what you, what I owe you.  [00:28:45] God Owes Nothing [00:28:45] Tony Arsenal: The reality is God doesn't owe any of us anything. Right? Right. He owes us wrath and judgment and destruction. And so even, even the people who are the hard workers in the kingdom of God don't merit and never could merit, um, to, in a certain sense, in a strict sense and stick with me before you send your, your angry emails in a real strict sense. Even Adam couldn't merit. What was, well, it was guaranteed to him, according to the Covenant of Works, God had to condescend to make the covenant of works in order for Adam to have any sort of fruition of his blessedness. So there there's no natural obligation, strict obligation that God has to reward the work of his creatures because nothing they could do could ever be sufficient enough to obligate him. So the, the obligation of himself, and that's, this is where I do think this is strong, the fact that he obligates himself to these workers to give them their denarius after a hard day's work  [00:29:37] Jesse Schwamb: exactly  [00:29:37] Tony Arsenal: is itself. A covenantal, um, contractual, yes. But I actually read this as sort of a covenantal thing and the, the strange part is that the people don't recognize the sort of semi gracious covenantal nature of this. Yes.  [00:29:50] Grace In The Hiring [00:29:50] Tony Arsenal: I think, um, you know, there have been times when I, where I've been unemployed, um, not for very long. Now, I know some people face unemployment for a lot longer than I ever have, but I know there was times where I was, I was looking for work and someone would say to me like, Hey, you know, my, my, my lawn needs to be mowed. Could you come over and I'll, I'll give you 25 bucks to mow my lawn. It's a small lawn. Um. That's a gracious act in most cases. Right, right. Um, yes, I'm performing a task. Yes, they're paying me, but they didn't have to offer me that work. They didn't have to offer me that job, especially when it's something that like they could have accomplished themselves. They could have just done it themselves. Um, so I think there's an element of that here, that there's, there's a condescension of the master to these workers, to these laborers who are not part of his household. These are not, they're not slaves. These are not people who are part of his household, who are regular employees. These are people that he goes out into the market to, to find and to hire. And as we see some of, some of these mark, like the difference between the ones that are hired and the ones that are not hired until later in the day, the parable's not super clear about what it is. Just that they're not hired, it doesn't say the lazy ones were left there. The ones were exactly, that were ugly or had like limp legs or like just couldn't cut it. It just says like there was some that didn't get hired. Um, so there's a gracious element of this, and that makes the recognition at the end or the lack of recognition at the end by these full day laborers, the, the sort of like recognition, this, this entitled ness, um, that actually makes it all the worst. It's like the people who are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace. Um, I know all the Baptists in our, our group, their heads just exploded, but like are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace, um, who wanna somehow complain about like the graciousness of the covenant of grace that they're outwardly attached to it. It's just sort of like a form of, of theological and temporary insanity, I think. And that's what we see on full display here.  [00:31:40] Jesse Schwamb: It's definitely all grace. You're right that nobody's gonna get injustice right in this parable. And I think that's definitely exemplified the further out you go in this hiring order. [00:31:49] Eleventh Hour Mercy [00:31:49] Jesse Schwamb: So by the time you get to 5:00 PM which is pretty extraordinary, right? Only really like one hour remains before sense, right? It's the end of the working day.  [00:31:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:31:56] Jesse Schwamb: You can imagine like these guys who are being hired at the hour probably can contribute very little in the last hour of the day, right? But this owner goes out and hires them and no agreement is stated whatsoever. It's just pure grace. The landowner's question, why do you stand here idle all day? I think to your point, underlies their vulnerability. They were not idle by choice, presumably. And so I think we rightly here in this, like a foreshadowing of those who are called the late in redemptive history, Gentile sinners, the seemingly least qualified for kingdom membership. All of that I think is at play and it's all, it's getting this lovely setup of all these groups to help us understand what that kingdom is actually like.  [00:32:33] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah.  [00:32:35] Reverse Payroll Setup [00:32:35] Tony Arsenal: And then we have this, um, this is where the sort of dramatic tension turns, right? The end of the day comes and, uh, the master calls the, the people that he brought last, right? He calls the people who'd only been there for an hour and he starts to go down the list of the people who, the people who were last, and the people who came in next. And the people who came in next, right? And the workers who had contracted at the beginning of the day. Um, they're watching this happen and they're kind of going, oh, this is gonna be good. Like, that guy's only been here for an hour and he got a denarius. You know, the logic is probably like, I'm gonna get 12 denarius, like I'm gonna go 12 days worth of work. Um, because I think there's an assumption on their part, um, that the master's fair that he is, he's providing an equitable wage. Um, of course the master is fair, but he's providing an equitable wage that's commensurate with the work delivered. A delivered, delivered, right? And that, that's the key to this parable.  [00:33:26] Merit Mindset Exposed [00:33:26] Tony Arsenal: I think the expectation that God. Helps those who help themselves. Right? God rewards those who put in the hard work. God. God provides blessing or salvation according to the merit provided by the one who's being saved. That perspective is what's on full display here. Yes. By the people who are, uh, the ones who contracted for the full day. They're not thinking about the covenant that they have with this person or the contract they have with this person. They're not thinking about the fact that they agreed to work for the day in order to earn a day's wage. They're thinking about how this actually is gonna work out great in their favor. They're looking at this as a strictly merit-based kind of a, a thing. And you would think that like when the, the one hour people come in, they get a denarius, and then the three hour people come in and they get a denarius. You'd think they would pick up on it at some point, but then in the course of the payroll, it doesn't seem that they do. They still get to the bottom of the list and think they're gonna get more compared to the other people who all got the same.  [00:34:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that display piece is critical to this. It is like complete setup. Like you can imagine he, the landowner calling everybody together at the end of the day and they're all standing around. Some of them are exhausted because they've again born all their work in the heat of the day on their backs. They're tired, they're dirty, maybe they're exhausted. And he starts in this reverse order. And by the way, we should note that there is something here that's beautiful in that the law, the landowner is law abiding because right evening payment is mandated in the Torah. So we see all this taking place as to fulfill the law in some ways. But the reversal of the order that last of first is like such deliberative and good narrative storytelling and staging, isn't it? 'cause it ensures that the first hired workers are going to witness the payment of those who work the least. And if without that order, if you just did it the other way around, the more a crisis of the parable disc like completely goes away.  [00:35:10] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:35:10] Jesse Schwamb: So this execution of the payment at the owner's will, it just shows that he has. He's completely independent. His sovereignty belong. The sovereignty belongs to the master alone. And so this 11th hour workers receiving a full day's wage for one hour of work, that's like an act of sheer generosity. It's not proportional justice. And I think as reform, people, maybe all of us at some point have had this conversation about predestination and justice and mercy. And again, really I think putting a crowbar between this idea that nobody is receiving injustice, but some are receiving mercy and grace. And here these first hired workers seeing this form, like you said, this expectation that they're gonna receive more, like you said, where that came from. Yeah, it's just them, right? It's purely manufactured in their own reasoning. It's not anchored in the covenantal promise and certainly not witnessed in the grace that they should be receive, like perceiving as the payments get doled out, like sequentially moving in their reverse order toward those who have worked the longest. But their expectation reveals that they have fundamentally misread like the landowner's character. They're still operating in the register of a contract and not grace.  [00:36:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And you know, I think to sort of lock this covenant covenantal frame and sort of like lack of recognition of the covenant into place too, when you look at the language of this parable, um, and especially kind of what it's following up on, it's coming on the heels of this interaction with this rich, rich young ruler who comes in and he thinks that he's gonna earn eternal life by keeping the commandments. Um, and, and he, he has this outward sense or this outward display of pty. He's calling Jesus good. He's saying he, you know, he keeps the commandments, Jesus doesn't even disagree with him actually, that he has connect. Yes. You know, I think it's implied that, well, of course you haven't, but he, he still is graciously trying to like, convince this guy, no, you actually need to abandon your self righteousness and, and pursue and follow me. Um. But this is a parable where like other people are listening, right? There's other witnesses. This isn't like the rich young ruler came to him in the middle of the night, like Nicodemus. This is something that's happened on PO on in the public. So we can anticipate that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the lawyers were all aware of this. They may have been there, but they were at least aware of this happening. And I think there's some language in here that is actually directed at those people.  [00:37:30] Grumbling As Accusation [00:37:30] Tony Arsenal: And, and here's where it comes in, is you get to verse, um, we'll start reading again at verse nine. It says, when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, so we're referring to the people who are hired at the beginning of the day. Now, when those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius and on receiving it, right? So this is as, this is, um, uh, just unbelievable as they're receiving the denarius on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house. Now, just the way that I read that and said the word grumbled tells you that that word is really important here. Yes. If you look at this Greek word. And you compare it to the, the word, the usage of this word in the, the, um, Sept. Yes. Which of course is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This word most commonly appears in the wilderness wandering accounts. [00:38:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:38:23] Tony Arsenal: Right. And the, the primary sin of the Israelites during the wilderness wandering was grumbling against the Lord. And this grumbling against the Lord in that context is not just a general complaining, right. It's not just like a, a sort of like a, a general dissatisfaction or like murmuring. This isn't like water cooler frustration about your boss. The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation, right. So this is tied to the, the accounts where Moses first is told to strike the rock, and he does so when the water comes out, and then second is told to speak to the rock, but he strikes it. I won't go into all the details, but the scene that's being, being displayed there is the people come, they accuse the Lord of abandoning them into the wilderness. And this scene where Moses is set up on the rock and he strikes the rock, that scene is a judicial scene. The people have filed a covenant accusation against the Lord, and in reality, it's the people who have been unfaithful. But the Lord standing in the place of the rock is the one who is struck, right? Jesus was the rock in the wilderness from which the water came. Paul says that in First Corinthians, right? So this language of grumbling in this is not just, they're not just complaining about the fact that they didn't get what they thought they were going to, they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. So they're, they're still locked into this merit-based. This merit-based idea even more than it seemed at first, right? There's a logic to the idea that like, oh, if the, the master is actually paying a wage of one denarius for per hour, like there's a logic to that. But it's not just that they're saying, and this is, this explains the response of the master. It's not just that they're saying like, Hey, wait a second, like the wage rate that you're paying is not right. They're saying you have violated the terms of our covenant in the way that you have paid us. 'cause it's upon receiving it that they complain or they grumble and the master says more or less like, Hey. You agreed with me for one Denarius, I'm giving you what you've earned. I'm giving you what you agreed on. Why don't you take it and go. So the answer is not to try to justify why he is free to pay these other people more, or why he's free to pay these people a perceived less. The answer is, again, they're complaining against the covenant. He is bringing it back to the covenant saying, well, here's what the covenant relationship was. You work for the day. I give you Denarius. We're square here, we're on the same page. We've fulfilled our covenant obligations, and you've received your reward for that. So I, I think that's another thing we have to lock in here is this is not just a general idea of like unfairness that's being presented. This is not just a general idea that people are saying the master of the house is unfair. They're saying he's covenantal. Unfaithful. Right? That's a pretty big accusation.  [00:41:09] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that is, thank you by the way, for completely stealing the whole tugen thing from me. Like I was just going hot to Tugen to find that reference. And now all I can do is add to it. So that is from at least one of those occasions, a number 16, and I just wanna read the verse. This is 16 six. So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel at evening, you will know that Yahweh has brought you outta the land of Egypt. And in the morning you will see the glory of Yahweh for he hears your grumblings against Yahweh. And what we are that you grumble against us. So I'm totally with you. This is not subtle. The workers first complaint here, the first workers' complaint is like theologically serious. Uh, I think that's what you're hitting us on. Like it charges the owner with injustice. Right. And as I read it, the grievance has like two layers or two parts, I would say. One is this comparative part, which is basically saying, you made us equal to them. Right? And the second be like a meritorious part, they have worked harder and in worse conditions. And that's why they say things like, it's, it's all inflammatory language, isn't it? Like the scorching heat emphasizes like the real bodily cost and their complaint. I think if we're honest, it's not irrational, but it's spiritually revealing at least because Right, they believe their greater effort, mayors greater reward and they resent that grace shown to others. So like you said, they're bringing forward a very serious grievance and it's, it's not just like, Hey, we think maybe could you give us a bonus? Right. But that is a matter of faithfulness. And in fact, like as I'm looking at this tugen here, shout out to logos Bible software. And I'm saying that that verb that we're talking about in Exodus 16 is in the imperfect tense. So this is, they kept on grumbling and it is like an an echo of Israel's murmuring in the wilderness, which I presume like Matthew certainly had intentionally used there or had that view in part casting these workers as the same types of those who relate to God through entitlement rather than gratitude. So it's like insults upon insult here, but it is to emphasize this fact that it's no small accusation, it's not subtle, it's meant to be in your face. They're coming in hot with this and they're making a big deal about it.  [00:43:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and again, I think like underscoring the covenantal nature of this is so key. And I think, you know, when we look at this, we really have to land that this is not just saying. Your wage structure is not right. 'cause and, and we gotta remember, they weren't there when the master went and made this bargain, or, you know, brought these other workers into the vineyard. They weren't there to hear what covenant or contract he did or didn't make. And as we've commented, they didn't, he didn't even make a covenant with them. He basically just said, I'm gonna put you to work and I'll pay you what's fair. I'll pay you what's right. Um, and they went, okay, you need the work and thank you. Like, I think, I think that's kind of like the, the scene here is they're standing there. They recognize they're not gonna get a wage for the day, especially these ones that he's coming in at the 11th hour, they're not gonna get a wage for the day. And as you said, these are subsistence workers. Right. These are people that if you don't get a wage, and this is the, the grounding of the Old Testament, um, the Old Testament command of, of paying at the end of the day is that if they don't get their wage, they're not gonna eat. They're not gonna have food, they're not gonna have the money they need to survive. Um, so he comes in and he basically says like. You don't have a job that's not gonna be good for you. I'll take care of you. I'll, I'll give you a job and I'll take care of you. And the ones who are complaining and grumbling, they have no line of sight to that process. That, that's right. They make a lot of assumptions about the, and this is, goes back to, um. The parable of the talents, which we haven't really talked about yet. The, the, there's a lot of assumptions about the nature of this master that the, the contracted or covenanted day laborers are making that don't turn out to be accurate. Right. They, they assume that he's working, as you've said, that he's working on this one-to-one, you know, quid pro quo. You do this, I do that kind of a, a methodology and he's actually operating on a basis of a much more. Basic, uh, grace principle. Uh, and again, even, even the principle of hiring these original workers and covenanting with them is gracious in the sense that he didn't have to hire them. Right. So, so all along the way they're, they're, it's like the epitome of looking a gift horse in the mouth.  [00:45:24] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:45:24] Tony Arsenal: They've been hired, and so yes, it is right for them to expect their, um, to expect their wage, whatever that wage might be. But they, they are misinterpreting the idea of what the wages are and how the wages are to be delivered. They're, they're applying, this is actually a lot like job's, friends, right? Their, their logic is not actually all that bad, but they have, they have missing parts of the picture that makes the logic. Apply differently in this particular situation. They think that this, this master works on a strict merit-based. You do X amount of work, you receive X amount of money. And this master is actually more functioning on this covenantal principle of, I'm gonna pay you what's right, regardless of what, what work you've done, which, what work is actually owed to you. And the master makes these, this agreement with these other workers to just say, go into the vineyard and then when the evening comes, I'll pay you. Right. Well, he intended to pay them what they needed to survive, regardless of how much work they provided. Right? So they're all, even though there's a formal contract to say these, this group works for the whole day and this group, you know, and, and they receive one day's labor, at the end of the day, he's graciously providing another day of survival for all of these people, for the work that they're, they're putting forward regardless of how much they actually contribute to his bottom line. [00:46:41] Owner Defends The Covenant [00:46:41] Jesse Schwamb: And we see that in verse 13, where the landowner gives his defense, you know, it says. He and he replied, friends, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for Denarius? Now the address, because now I'm deep in the Greek Tony. Here we go. So the address I'm seeing in, uh, again, shout out to Locus Bible software, it, this use of friend is not like the warm fellows, but like a more formal or distance term of address. It's used elsewhere in Matthew. But I think the point here is that the owner's first line of defense is this contractual point, which you're saying. I have not wronged you. He's kept his agreement precisely. No injustice has been done. And that's crucial. The owner doesn't re appreciate justice. He actually fulfills it. He obligates himself and he fulfills that obligation. And what the worker receives is exactly what was promised and exactly what is due. And so by the time he gets to verse 14 where he says, take what belongs to you, and go, I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you here. I think this is like the theological beating hide of this whole bad boy. Yeah.  [00:47:37] Jesse Schwamb: The landowner explicitly invokes his will, his sovereign freedom to do and to give as he pleases, which is exactly how God behaves. It's not a negation of justice, but this declaration of something beyond justice, it is grace. He exercises his freedom and generosity to those who had no claim, and the command, take what belongs to you and go is, is kind of like a world dismissal, like, like you were saying. Yeah. We're in the courtroom. He's like, I, I've ruled on this already. Like, bring Brian, bring your grievance. Here's my ruling. Take what you have and go. Their grumbling has revealed that they're not celebrating the kingdom. They're actually grieving it. So yeah, you know, I think original invocation of like Jonah is right on the money. It's basically like, are are you mad enough? Yeah, I'm mad enough to die. Like, how dare you give me, give me this great shade and then take it away from me. Yeah. And in some ways this is even worse because what they have been given has been that were promised to them, was given to them, and they get to retain and God says, go, or the landowner as God says, go now and take what is yours. Take what I've given to you graciously. But your point that like what supersedes that, the antecedent to all of that is still God's covenant keeping, covenant making promise, making, right? That sets the whole thing up. But I love this idea that, you know, I will choose, it's my desire, it's language of divine volition. And of course the reform theology, this single verb resonates with the entire doctrine of election. It's God's free, sovereign, and gracious will to bestow blessing without reference to merit, like praise his name.  [00:49:00] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And then we come to kind of the close of this parable, right? And this is, this reall

Pastor David Harris Wednesday April 15, 2026

There's a pattern worth naming, one that shows up in sermons, in bestselling books, and honestly, in the way most of us consume content every day. We take something small: a verse, a phrase, a post, a moment, and we build something enormous on top of it. In this episode, I'm looking at a popular men's ministry framework that anchors itself in a single line from First Corinthians "act like men" and asking what's actually there when you slow down long enough to look. What we find raises questions that go way beyond biblical interpretation. Because whether it's a scripture or a scroll, the things we build our identity on deserve more than a surface read. If something in this conversation resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at clemenzwithaz@gmail.com, or send me a DM over on Instagram at @clemenzwithazpodcast. If you want to support the podcast financially, you can head over to ClemenzWithAZ.com, there's a merch store there with shirts, stickers, all kinds of stuff. You can also donate directly through the GoFundMe, the link's in the show notes. Every bit goes a long way in helping me keep these conversations going. And if you're looking for something a little more regular, check out my Substack: Devotions for the Disillusioned & Deconstructing. That's where I share short reflections, devotionals, and some extra behind-the-scenes thoughts that don't always make it onto the podcast. And of course, the best way you can support the show is by subscribing, rating, and leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Share it with a friend, post it on your socials, drop it in a group chat, it all helps more than you know. This podcast keeps going because of listeners like you showing up, engaging, and passing it on. So thank you for being here, for listening, and for being part of this messy middle with me. Until next time, take care of yourselves, and each other.

Jesus gives you complete victory  - victory spiritually, emotionally, physically, and even over death." This week we continue on in our series called "We Are His." We're studying First Corinthians and this week Pastor Blake looks at the second half of chapter 15 as we consider what it looks like to live victorious light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are his champions and we look at how we live that out in this week's message.

April 15, 2026

Outline  Holy Spirit as the Foundation of Spiritual Rebirth Jesus's words in John 3:5-6 establish that being born of the Spirit is a prerequisite for entering the kingdom of God. Distinction is drawn between the flesh and the Spirit, emphasizing that life in Christ is defined by the capital-S Spirit of God, singular in nature and character. This rebirth concept positions the Holy Spirit not as one among many spirits, but as the specific and exclusive Spirit of God, forming the foundation of Christian life. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Its Meaning Acts 1:3-8 is presented to illustrate Jesus's promise that his followers would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and receive power. The word "baptized" is defined as meaning to immerse or to make fully wet, painting a picture of total immersion in the Spirit of God. This immersive relationship with the Holy Spirit is described as something that is simultaneously upon believers, close to them, and dwelling within them. Understanding God as immersive rather than distant reframes the believer's relational perspective toward one of proximity and presence. The Human Need to Be Filled and Covered by the Holy Spirit A vacuum or emptiness experienced before receiving the Holy Spirit is identified as a universal human need. Biblical images such as Joseph's coat of many colors and the prodigal son receiving a robe and ring are used to illustrate the human need to be covered and filled by God. Feeling perpetually vulnerable or unsafe is addressed by encouraging believers to seek baptism in the Holy Spirit and find refuge in God as a strong tower. God's presence is described as constant and unchanging, with the only variable being the believer's conscious awareness of that presence. Corporate worship is presented as a deliberate practice of fixing one's eyes on God and becoming consciously aware of His already-present Spirit. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Its Transformative Power Romans 8:9-11 is cited to establish that the Spirit of God dwells within believers, carrying significant implications for their identity and transformation. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is described as living inside those who have received the Holy Spirit, making spiritual transformation possible. Areas of depression, anxiety, and emotional deadness are identified as places where the Holy Spirit actively ministers, bringing freedom and deliverance. Sanctification is framed as an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, with the believer's role being to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus as the author and perfecter of faith. Fruits of the Spirit are described as arising from residing in and beholding God, rather than from personal effort alone. The Body as a Temple of the Holy Spirit First Corinthians 6:15-20 is referenced to establish that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, bought with a price and belonging to God. Sexual immorality is specifically addressed as a sin against one's own body and an incompatible presence within a temple that hosts the Holy Spirit. Hosting the Holy Spirit is likened to inviting Jesus into the temple, who then overturns tables of idolatry, impurity, and transactional relationship. Holiness is described as an active process, with the Holy Spirit creating purity within the believer as a natural consequence of His indwelling. A choice is presented between allowing the Lord to drive out compromise or allowing compromise to drive out the Lord, with the two being unable to coexist. Grieving the Holy Spirit and Maintaining Sensitivity Ephesians 4:30 is cited to explain that sinful actions grieve the Holy Spirit, who has sealed believers for the day of redemption. Acting according to human nature while the Holy Spirit dwells within creates a relational rupture, described as making one's great roommate sad. Denial of the Holy Spirit's conviction is warned against as a dangerous path that leads to spiritual callousness and diminished sensitivity. Maintaining high sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is presented as essential for continued repentance and growth in holiness. Leaning not on one's own understanding but acknowledging God in all ways is encouraged as the posture for walking in step with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit as Teacher and Guide John 14:26 is presented to describe the Holy Spirit as a helper and teacher who brings to remembrance all that Jesus has said. Believers are encouraged to bring their questions and uncertainties to the Holy Spirit first, before seeking answers from other people. Building a habit of inquiring of the Holy Spirit and searching Scripture is described as developing personal faith rather than codependent faith. First Corinthians 2:9-14 is cited to explain that the Spirit of God searches the deep things of God and imparts spiritual truths that the natural person cannot understand. Receiving the Spirit of God is described as enabling believers to understand the things freely given by God, interpreted spiritually rather than through human wisdom. The Holy Spirit Leading Believers Through Trials The Holy Spirit is described as actively leading believers into difficult situations and trials as part of their journey toward the promised land. Israel's path through Egypt, the desert, and the giants of the promised land is used as a parallel for the trials the Holy Spirit guides believers through. Trials are reframed as purposeful, with the Holy Spirit using them to generate inner transformation and deepen the believer's experience of God's peace. Peace that surpasses understanding is described as a currency not dependent on external circumstances but on the God who lives within. Fixing one's eyes on Jesus during storms is presented as the primary response to fear and anxiety, with the act of beholding Him producing transformation. Beholding God and the Practice of His Presence Second Corinthians 3:16-18 is cited to show that beholding the glory of the Lord transforms believers into the same image, from one degree of glory to another. Worship is described as a conscious and present effort to shift attention and focus onto God, contending until one locks eyes with Jesus. A practical method of practicing God's presence is described as pausing during Bible reading whenever the Spirit is discerned, closing one's eyes, and meditating on the encounter. Being still and knowing God is presented as a discipline of focusing on what already is, rather than creating God's presence. Taking every thought captive is encouraged as the means of returning to focus when the mind wanders during times of seeking God's presence. Prayer for the Infilling and Baptism of the Holy Spirit A corporate prayer is offered for every person present to be filled and baptized with the Holy Spirit, with an invitation to place a hand on the heart as an act of reception. Specific prayers are made for those with father wounds, asking the Holy Spirit to fill them with a spirit of adoption and cast out the spirit of slavery and fear. Individuals struggling with anxiety disorders are prayed over, with the perfect love of God declared as the force that casts out fear and visits places of abandonment, rejection, and trauma. Marriages are specifically prayed over, asking the Holy Spirit to baptize husbands and wives, soften hard hearts, and minister to contempt, disappointment, and woundedness. Freedom is described not merely as the casting out of negative things but as being filled with the Holy Spirit, with Jesus's warning about empty spaces being refilled sevenfold used to underscore the importance of infilling.  

Pastor David Harris Wednesday April 8, 2026

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptCome on, if you will, grab your Bibles and go to Second Samuel, chapter nine. We're going to be reading all of Second Samuel chapter nine together this morning. That's on page 149 in one of the blue Bibles. So if you want to grab one of those from the seat in front of you, would love for you to turn there. It's good to hold a Bible. It's good to hold it open and read together. We have already walked through 2nd Samuel 8 and 10. We're working through the whole book of 2nd Samuel. We took a little break right around Easter, but we've already looked at 8, chapters 8 and chapters 10, because they were dealing with the military victories of David that he was successful, because God was blessing him, defending the nation of Israel and enlarging the territory of Israel as they were attacked and as they defended, they would claim new lands. And so we looked at that. But in the middle of that recounting of the victories of David, there's this story that we're going to look at in chapter nine. And it. In chapter eight, it just finished by saying that David ruled with equity and justice, that he's a good king. And then it's going to give this little story. And in some ways that typifies that, that shows us that. And I think this is one of the beautiful highlights of David's kingship. So we're going to study it together this morning, and through it, we're going to try to set our minds on Christ and how he's a good king and how this story reflects to us some of the beauty of what he is like and how good he is. So chapter nine, verse one. This is David at kind of the height of his power. In some ways. He's been victorious. He's established the kingdom. It's firmly in his hand. And I think this gives us a little glimpse into what he's like because it says this.> And David said, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (2 Samuel 9:1, ESV)So if you'll remember, Saul was the first king of Israel and Jonathan was his son. And when David killed Goliath, it says that Jonathan, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and they loved one another and they were friends and cared for one another. And Jonathan helped David escape Saul, his father, when Saul was going to kill him. And they made covenantal promises to each other that David promised that he would be good to him in his kingdom and he'd be good to his family. And David even promised Saul that he would not, if he became king, kill all of Saul's family. And so David, in this moment of power, when he's got some victories under his belt and things have settled, he's got his own city, he's got the. The ark brought to the city, he's got the tabernacle, a tent set up for the ark. I went in the tabernacle. It was in a different place. I was about to misspeak there. David stops and says, can't I find somebody to keep this promise to Jonathan? Is there not anybody where I can show kindness to? And if you would think about kings, if they're constantly at war, the sorts of things that they might be inclined to do when they had a moment of break, when they had a moment down where they might be inclined to make themselves greater, enlarge their palaces, rest. And we get this moment where David, in the moment of stillness, goes, can't I keep this promise? Is there not someone that I can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake? Verse 2. Now, there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. And they called him to David. And the king said to him, are you Zeba? And he said, I am your servant. Which is just a humble way to say yes. Now, if you're Zeba and you're a servant of Saul, and David, who Saul was at war against, has now become king. There was a war between the house of Saul and David for several years because of Saul, and then with Ishma Sheth, and then they come to your house and they say, hey, David wants to see you. I'm going to go ahead and guess that you're not ecstatic at that news, that this was probably kind of stressful for Ziba. If they came to you and just said, hey, the president needs to talk to you, you'd have a lot of questions. Why? What for? And they're like, we got to get there quick. We brought a helicopter. Me. Are you. Check the name again. Why do I need to see the president? And even if you thought there was not a good chance that he was going to execute you on the White House lawn, you'd still be nervous. Well, Ziba is in a situation where he's a part of the house of Saul. It's like, this might not be going to go well. And he's brought before the king. And the king said, is there not still someone of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him? So David's Intent is to bless someone in the house of Saul, to show the kindness of God to them. And Zeba said to the king, there is still a son of Jonathan. He is crippled in his feet. Now that's an interesting, might even argue, troubling response. He, he doesn't say who in Ziba's mind. The thing that's important is he's crippled in his feet. And if you're someone who deals with a disability, specifically physical ones, that it's possible for you to feel like this is kind of how it works, that that's what's seen and known about you to the point of it swallows your identity either for other people or for yourself, that that's how you're marked, that's how you're labeled. That's how you're understood to the point of even being able to lose yourself in it. Now, we know that this son of Jonathan, his name is Mephibosheth. And we know that because of the introduction that were given to him in chapter four. But it, and it's a tragic introduction. So I want to show that it's a chapter four. You can go one page over in the blue Bible, Chapter four, verse four, says> Jonathan the son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste she fell and the child became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. (2 Samuel 4:4, ESV)So Mephibosheth, when he was five, on the same day, lost his granddad, his dad, his home, and his ability to walk. Now, any one of those things, no matter what your age is, would be extremely difficult to try to process through. But to have them all happen when you're five is an immense, acute amount of suffering. To be displaced, to be a refugee, to lose your father, to lose your grandfather, to lose everything you knew and understood about the world and your place in it, to lose all sense of safety. None of these things are anything that we would want a five year old to have to deal with. And he loses all of it at once and physically carries the reminder in himself from that day forward. In this culture, it was possible that he also carried the stigma of the judgment of God on him, that somehow he had earned this or deserved this or that God had added this to him. And all cultures, including ours, consistently ask, why do these sorts of things Happen? Why do we face this amount of suffering? Why do we have things like this happen? There's an interaction with Jesus and his disciples in John chapter nine where they see a man who's born blind and his disciples ask Jesus who sinned, that this man was born blind, was it him or, or his parents? The reason being, the reasoning being that someone had to sin for him to be cursed this way. Someone had to sin for this to befall him. Obviously it was deserved. That's the assumption. Then the thing they're troubled with is if he had become blind later in life, we wouldn't have the question because he had earned it. But since he was born blind, whose fault is that? Is it his parents fault or did he somehow earn it? But how did he earn it when he was born this way? That's, that's the thought process that they're trying to work out. And we can see that the idea of suffering, and specifically the suffering of someone young, or the suffering of someone born a certain way, or the suffering of, of the kind of the chaos suffering that just seems to happen adds more questions to it. Every once in a while we watch someone and we go, yeah, the reason that happened to you is that you're dumb and you make bad choices. You earned that one. But there are other times where we're going, we don't know how to place this, how does this fit? And that's the question that they're asking. And that honestly is the question that so much of life has to try to answer. Every religion has to try to answer that, every worldview has to try to answer that. So if you believe in karma, you would say that these sort of things, this type of suffering happens because of a previous life. You have a chance to suffer well in this one and then be reincarnated in a, in a better form. If you're Buddhist, you would say that all the material world's an illusion anyway and we're supposed to try to see through it. I was speaking to my neighbor who's Islamic. She said that in our suffering there are specific times where God hears us better in prayers and so we can pray to him and we can ask why. And she said, it's the primary purpose of praying to God in suffering is to ask why. Understanding that the reason you're suffering is God is trying to teach you something. Our Western culture is one of the least prepared to handle suffering in a what's called an imminent frame, which is all that we have is what we can see and taste and touch all we have is science, then there's no purpose in suffering, and the best you can do is get out of it quickly. We at least had at some point previously in generations, we understood that you could grow as a person and develop in character. And we still have a little bit of that, that you could somehow develop as a person so that you could become tough for the world. But now we've mostly shifted into, let's make the world soft for you. And so if anything causes pain or discomfort or suffering, you need to get rid of it, and you need to get rid of it quickly, whatever that means. Get rid of the relationship physically change, however, you can change to the point of surgeries or whatever, but we've got to change the situation so that you don't have to deal with that anymore. And in Christianity, I think we're given better answers and a better hope. We. We know that God's original design did not include any of this. And we know that through sin, suffering has entered the world. We know that it's not all earned. There are some, you know, there's rules in the world, like gravity. But a lot of the suffering that we face is not somehow earned by us or could have been avoided by our good behavior. Jesus, in his response to the disciples when they asked that question, says, neither, but so that the works of God might be displayed in Him. There's another instance In John, chapter 11, where Lazarus dies, and he says that God allowed this to happen for the sake of displaying his glory, that there's something unique that can happen in suffering and through suffering, a unique, peculiar way that God can work to display his goodness, to display his glory, to display his greatness. That only can happen in suffering. There's a unique and peculiar way that he can work in your life only through suffering, that he can't work in other ways or chooses not to. And we know because Jesus joins us in our suffering that there is no suffering that is wasted, that he's not distant from it, but he loves us in it, and that he works redemptively through it, and that we have a hope beyond it. So we don't get all the answers we want. We don't understand why some of these things happen to the degree they happen to you or to this other person, why him, not her? We don't understand those things. We actually don't get that answer. But we do know that Jesus meets us in it, cares for us, sees us, knows us. And we see specifically in this situation with Mephibosheth, a glimpse of how God cares and knows and works. And specifically in this situation with someone who's physically disabled, how he works and relates and ls. So I want to keep reading because I love what happens next. Verse 4. So Zeba just said, he's got a son.> Then the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar." (2 Samuel 9:4, ESV)The king sent and had him brought from Lo-debar, from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel.> Then King David sent and had him brought from Lo-debar, from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel. (2 Samuel 9:5, ESV)If you thought Ziba was uncomfortable, if you agreed with me on that assessment, Mephibosheth has to be quite nervous. If they showed up and said, hey, Mephibosheth, King David's looking for you. Why? Because you're a descendant of Saul. Great, good, normal thing to do is to go round up anybody else who could be a rival to your kingdom. You just wipe them out. And he's like, oh, okay. And they say, no, no, no, no. He wants you to come because he's going to be nice to you. Doesn't that make it worse? Feels more suspicious that way. He's got a gift for you. Sure he does. So I should, like, hug my wife and tell her bye? That's what you're saying? This isn't going to go well, but I don't know how trusting he was. It doesn't tell us. David does respond to him and tell him not to be afraid. So I think there's a. There's an indication that there was some anxiety over the situation. But it says this in verse six.> And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, "Mephibosheth." And he answered, "Behold, I am your servant." (2 Samuel 9:6, ESV)And David said to him, do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather, and you shall eat at my table always.> And David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather, and you shall eat at my table always." (2 Samuel 9:7, ESV)He bowed himself and said, what is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? Then the king called Ziba Saul's servant, and said to him,> "Behold, I have given to your master's grandson all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. You and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat; but Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall eat at my table." (2 Samuel 9:8–10, ESV)Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, according to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.> And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica, and all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. (2 Samuel 9:12–13, ESV)So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet, which will factor into the story again later as we run back into Mephibosheth. But David has welcomed him, invited him in, and placed him at his table, restored everything he could restore to him. And it's wonderful. And I think sometimes when we read these stories, when you're reading the. The Bible, sometimes you just come across something like this and you're like, okay, what do we do with that? How are we supposed to understand that? And in general, we've been trained to. When you interact with a story, that the story is trying to tell you something about life or about yourself, some sort of moral, some sort of lesson. And then we import that specifically when we come to the Bible, we're going, this is obviously written for some kind of lesson. And. And there are things that are like that. Paul says that in First Corinthians, he says these things were written down for our instruction so that we wouldn't do what they did. So that's an okay thing to do, to read the Scriptures and go, okay, yeah, let's not repeat that. Let's learn from that. Just like if you have an older sibling and they do dumb things, it's good for you to go, yeah, I'm also not going to do that. So we're able to look into this and see this. But that's not the primary way to read the Bible. We're not supposed to just take in lessons, although that's what we've been trained to do. That's. I don't know if you all know this, but every culture, stories help you understand what their ideals are, what they care about, what they value. That's why so many of the stories we tell right now are about throwing off anything that would keep you from being your real, authentic self. That's what a whole lot of our stories are about. Figuring out how to find out the real you and listen to that voice inside and seeing that with your little animal companion or whatever. Like, that's the stuff that we put out there and how your parents are stupid, that's a bonus. Just throw that in there. Don't listen to them. But that's a lot of the stories about freedom, about being alone, about figuring out how to find it all in yourself. We have a lot of those kind of stories. That's not the stories that people used to tell. We actually went and took all of the old fairy tales and turned them into that. But the old fairy tales used to be like, hey, honey, you about to go to sleep? Let me tell you a story. There was a little girl, she's about your age, her mom gave her a chore. She didn't do the chore. And she got eaten night pudding. Those were the stories. There was a mermaid, and her dad told her, don't become a person. And she became one and then suffered forever. Good night. Listen to your dad. Those are the stories. And so we. We understand, we're trying to read sometimes, and we're going, what's the lesson here? But when we come to the text, when we come to the Bible, that's secondary in our understanding. The Bible's primary purpose is to tell us the story of God and his interaction with humans and to display his greatness. This is how Jesus tells us to read the Bible. He looks at the. The Pharisees and he says, you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have life, but it's they that testify about me. The point of the Scriptures is to point us to Christ first and foremost. So, yes, we can learn lessons and we can say we ought to be like David and we ought to be kind and we ought to be gracious. But if we're looking for ourselves in stories so often, what happens is we end up putting ourselves in the. In the position of the hero. But we're not in the position of the hero. Christ is in the position of the hero. If we're to find ourselves in this story, we're Mephibosheth. We've lost everything and have no ability to get it back. That's us in the scheme of the world. It's all gone. You've been born into an enemy house. You've been born into sin. You've chosen sin and you have no way to come back. You have nothing in yourself that can merit or earn your salvation. You have no hope on your own. But God in Christ has chosen to rescue and to redeem and to welcome each other. Enemies and to bring him into his house. Enemies who could not have accomplished anything on their own. Enemies who. Who by nature and choice have fallen away. Enemies who have rebelled, enemies who do not belong are brought in because he's good. I love that he says, for the sake of Jonathan, because it's for the sake of Christ that we're welcomed in. It's not for our sake. It's not something that you've done. It's not something that you've accomplished. It's not something that you've earned. It's something that has been accomplished by Jesus on our behalf. So if your framework for what you're trying to do, even just being here this morning is, I'm going to get it together. I'm going to fix it. I've messed some things up, but I'm going to get better. I'm going to do what's good. I'm going to do what's right. I'm going to. I'm going to change. And your intent is to do that on your own in such a way that merits you a seat at the king's table. It will never happen. But I've got better news. The king goes out of his way to seek and to save the lost. He goes out of his way to find and to bring in rebels to his house. He goes out of his way to get those who do not belong and in any other system would not be welcome. They're brought in. And I think we say this a lot, so I think you've heard it. I think we've said a lot that you're a sinner, you're broken. We don't usually use this phrase, but we could. You're like Mephibosheth. You're a dead dog. Maybe we should start. I think we say that a lot. I think what can happen sometimes is we can miss. Mephibosheth lays on his face before the king understands his position is absolute worthlessness. He has nothing to bring. And then he gets up and he goes to the table. I don't want you to miss that. Because his position at the table should be one of joy and delight and fellowship and welcome, like a king's son. He shouldn't sit forever and go, oh, my dead. He shouldn't do that. That's not the position he's in. And here's the other thing that I think sometimes happens in our mind. You might go, yes, I understand. I'm saved only by grace. Yes, I understand that Jesus did everything. Yes, yes, yes. And then somehow you work in your mind that you've snuck in the back door. Everybody else is loved and welcome, but somehow you're here on some kind of technicality. It's not how it works. I don't know if y'all can imagine with me the moments when David looked down the table at all of his sons and at Mephibosheth. I don't know if you can imagine the Moments that Mephibosheth moved or spoke or laughed like Jonathan and David's heart leapt. And how much joy and delight there was in David's heart to have him at the table. And as Christ goes to work for you and in you, I want you to know that the King of Ages will sit with us at the table and delight that we're there to the glory of Christ. And every moment that Jesus is at work in you, and he sees a glimpse of him in you, and every moment that he knows that the only way you're welcome is because of the work of the Son of God, that there's joy and delight that he's brought you in, and that his greeting is your name with an exclamation mark. You did not sneak in. You are not unwelcome. He died and shed his precious blood so that you might have a seat at the table, and he did it on purpose for you. John, chapter 10. He says, I, the good shepherd, I know my sheep. I call them by name and I lead them out. If you don't think he knows your name and doesn't delight to welcome you, you have misunderstood the greatness of our God and King, who in Christ welcomes sinners to the praise of his glory and to the light of his goodness. So if you belong to Jesus, I want you to know you don't deserve to be at the table, but I want you to know that you get to be at the table and that he delights to have us there. He's that good. Let's pray.Lord, thank you for saving sinners. And thank you that we have nothing to offer or to merit or to achieve or to accomplish, but that you searched us out. And due to your great kindness and goodness, you've welcomed us. So, Lord, may we with joy in our hearts, with heads held high, with a smile on our face, live like we're your children because Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers and that we've been welcomed because of your greatness, not ours. May we rest in that and hope in that and give you glory in that. And for anyone in this room, Lord, who's been on the run for you from you, or who thinks that they have to fix it before they can come, may they lay their face on the ground and say, lord, I don't deserve this. And then may, through your grace and your goodness and your blood, may you lift them up and give them a seat at the table, because they don't. But you're good enough, kind enough and loving enough to Bring them in. May they surrender to you in Jesus name. Amen.We're going to take a moment together before we sing. Daniel's going to come back up and play for us as we take communion together as a church family. And what we're going to do is remind ourselves that we're invited to the table. And that what invited us, what brought us in, is the blood of Christ and the breaking of his body. That the night he was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it and he gave it to his disciples. He said, this is my body broken for you. And he took the cup and he said, this is the blood of the new covenant poured out for forgiveness of sins. And that in Jesus and in his sacrifice, we have forgiveness and we are welcomed. So take a moment wherever you are, if you need to deal with the Lord on something, if you need to repent of something, if you need to talk about something that's great, throne in between you and him, then repent and do that. And then go to the table as someone who's welcomed to the table through the work of Jesus. If you are not a Christian, then communion is not for you. But the gospel is offered to you that you might trust and follow Him. So when you're ready, we'll take communion. There's gluten free at that table back there.

It is a bit of a paradox, I agree, to be both contented and not contented. Maybe it's helpful to say we should accept who we are but never settle for where we are. Have you discovered that when you are not happy with who you are, you inflict great suffering on yourself? It causes you to be envious of others, to resent the success of others, to fight to get ahead of others, to be dependent on the approval of others. All kinds of problems arise when you cannot accept who you are. Have you come to that place yet, where you can truly say, “I like the way God has created me”? Oh, I hope so. It is not prideful to appreciate God’s handiwork in you. Rather it brings glory to God, just as when you appreciate a work of art you bring honor to the artist. Today I want to point out three other areas we need to learn to accept but not settle. Your Gifts and Talents Have you accepted the way God has gifted you? The Bible clearly teaches us each believer has been given definite and recognizable gifts or talents, which are resources to use in serving the Lord. First Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 are good chapters to study if you’re not familiar with these gifts. Once you know how God has gifted you, then accept the role you’ve been given with great joy. The things God has gifted you to do are the things that make you the happiest and bring the most satisfaction. You’ll find great joy when you’re functioning the way God created you to. For example, if you have the gift of encouragement, your greatest joy will be to write notes, help someone out, listen to a heartache—lots of things like that which an encourager does so well. It won’t be a chore or a duty because it’s your gift; it will be a delight. If your gift is administration, you’ll love organizing and doing all the behind-the-scenes things that are so important. If your gift is mercy, you will naturally have a sympathetic heart toward hurting people and find yourself trying to help them. Using your God-given gifts and talents will bring you satisfaction, and you will do those things with enthusiasm and excellence. But here’s the other side of the coin: Never be satisfied with your gifts the way they are. Jesus told a parable about three people who were given talents to use. One had five talents, one two talents, and one had only one. When the master returned and demanded an accounting as to how each one used his talents, he gave strong approval to the first two because they multiplied their talents. But to the man with only one, he gave a grave condemnation because he hid his talent and did not multiply it. You'll find that parable in Matthew 25. What Jesus taught us there is when we use the gifts and talents he has given us, he will give us more. I’ve been amazed to see this in my own life. I’m telling you, years ago I could never have imagined being able to do some of the ministries and new ideas God has allowed me to be involved with. But God is true to his Word, and when we start using the talent we have, God is faithful to give us more and increase our effectiveness. Accept the talents and gifts God has invested in you and then set out to grow them as much as possible. You do that by using them any way you can. Jump in the water and get wet. Often, I’m asked how I began my ministry, which is now heard on over 400 radio stations internationally and reaches out in many other ways. It began in my home in Chicago as a Bible study for five or six women. That Bible study lasted several years, and to this day is one of the sweetest, best memories I have. From that I started a small ministry at my church and became involved in other ministries there, serving in various ways. And much to my amazement, the doors opened. Now we have a much bigger outreach. But it all began where I was—in my home. And little by little God gave me opportunities to develop my gifts. God keeps his word, and he has promised when we are faithful with the gifts and talents we have, he will give us more. Start where you are, with whatever you have to offer, and see where God can take it. You will be amazed. Your Intelligence Another thing about ourselves we need to be content with is our intelligence. There’s no doubt God gave some people more brain power than others. Do you feel like you’ve been shortchanged in this department, and you don’t understand why God didn’t make you real smart? God needs some real smart brainy types, but he needs a lot of us ordinary types as well. Some of you had to fight for everything you learned in school and good grades did not come easily. Others could cram for a test at the last minute and ace it. It may not seem fair, but God has reasons for these differences in IQ. We need to accept who we are when it comes to intelligence. But don’t settle for where you are. Keep pushing the envelope to learn as much as possible. Scientists tell us we use only a miniscule portion of the potential in the human brain. And what I’ve discovered is that when I push myself mentally, my brain power seems to increase. I have a friend who began her college career in her mid-life, while she was working full-time. She always felt like she didn't have what it takes to complete college. She thought she wasn't smart enough, but she discovered she could handle college level classes, she could do well in them, and she was so joyful about what she was learning. She didn't settle for where she was, and by God's grace, she improved her mind and gained knowledge that enabled her to minister more effectively. You may not have the highest IQ around, but you’ve got far more brain power than you realize. Don’t settle for where you are intellectually; become a student and continually work at learning more. You can improve your mind and knowledge whether in school or not. Good reading habits will make a huge difference. And for those of you with lots of brain power, remember that to whom much is given much will be required, so be sure you’re making very good use of all that mental capacity. Your Circumstances Let me mention one last thing where we need to be content, and that is with our circumstances. Paul wrote: I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11). Have you learned that lesson yet? Just think about the freedom you and I would have if we could truly say with Paul: “I am content with my circumstances.” I think of a friend whom I admire greatly. She worked for Moody Radio in Chicago for many years and is a gracious, lovely, talented woman. Due to a work-related accident, her husband has been disabled most of their long-married life. When that happened, overnight her dreams of what her life would be like died, as she was forced to become a working woman and raise their children, while helping her disabled husband. When I think of the years she did that, I marvel at her attitude. She never complained; she learned to be content amid very difficult circumstances. And even when more family problems were poured on her head, she continued to trust God and accept what was coming her way. Through all the years she never lost heart or gave up or ran away—all of which I would have been tempted to do. Instead, she contributed immensely on her job and improved herself and did the most anyone could do under the circumstances. She comes to my mind as a woman who has accepted the circumstances of her life, yet they have not beaten her into the ground. She has grown, contributed, and made a beautiful life for herself and many others. So often when our circumstances are out of sorts—we’ve got the wrong job, we live in the wrong place, we don’t have enough money, we don’t have good health, or whatever—we are then tempted to waste our lives and squander our opportunities because of our adverse circumstances. If that’s where you are today, I urge you to start praying daily that God will teach you to be content with your circumstances and help you accept what is coming your way right now. But at the same time, don’t settle for life in the doldrums just because the circumstances are rotten. You can live above them and find that those difficult circumstances of your life can lead to growth, service, and joy right in the midst of the problems. Accept but don’t settle; be contented and discontented. I hope you’ll remember you can hold both in balance, because I believe it will help you. It will help you to be more content and appreciative of who you are, just the way God made you, and where your life is right now. But it will also remind you never to let yourself off the hook because “that’s the way you are,” but always strive to be all that you can be for the glory of Jesus Christ.

April 8, 2026

Are you, like me, tired of all the boasting that goes on on social media? Are you tired of having to face the temptation of giving in to the pressure of comparison which fuels that broken human desire of working to keep up with the Joneses? For those of us who are old enough to remember what life was like in a world without the distraction of social media, we long for those days when boasting and comparison, while certainly something that existed, didn't hammer us twenty-four seven through a digital device. Today, I want to encourage you to be someone who teaches your kids to navigate social media with a First Corinthians one thirty one attitude, while teaching your kids to do the same. First Corinthians one thirty one tells us this, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” All of us, young and old alike, need to realize that our lives should be centered not only the glorification of ourselves, but on the glorification of God. Imagine how things would change if that were the case.

April 5, 2026 | Chris Cook

Pastor David Harris Wednesday March 25, 2026

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Judges 6-7, Psalm 52, 1  Corinthians 14 Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved. TODAY'S EPISODE: Episode Introduction: March 29th, 2026 Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast for March 29th, day number 88 in our journey through the Bible. Join your Bible reading coach, Speaker A, as we come together from all around the world to warm our hearts by the fires of God's love. Today, we'll dive into Judges chapters 6 and 7, witnessing Gideon's transformation from the least of his family to a mighty warrior chosen by God. We'll explore Psalm 52, reflecting on God's justice and unfailing love, and finish with First Corinthians 14, focusing on the spiritual gifts that strengthen the church. Throughout this episode, we'll be reminded that you are who God says you are—regardless of how you feel or where you come from. We'll spend time in prayer, meditation, and gratitude, remembering God's presence, his role as loving Father, and the blessing of community. Whether you're joining us in reading, reflecting, or supporting, let's move forward together in God's joy and love. TODAY'S DEVOTION: You are who God says you are. God called Gideon a mighty warrior. He didn't feel like a mighty warrior. He felt like he was the least of the least. That's what he told the angel of the Lord: I come from the least of the tribes of Israel, and I am the least within my own family. That's not what God called him. God didn't call him the least of the least. He called him a mighty warrior. Regardless of how you feel, you are who God says you are. You might be beaten up, exhausted, and hiding like Gideon was, but like Gideon, God will come and find you. He comes looking for people just like that, so that he might prove himself strong through us. He delights in making the least the greatest. And he ultimately will win the victory for us, just as he did for the 300 trumpet-blowing Israelites. It was God who won that victory. It was God who was showing himself strong among the least. In the end, it is God who says who we are. If he chooses to call you mighty warrior, then that, my friend, is who you are. Have you heard him call you daughter, son, friend? Well, that's who you are. You are who God says you are. So listen and receive the blessing of the name that he has given you. There's going to be a time coming when we stand before God— in Revelation, we're told that there's a gift for those who overcome: it is a white stone, and on it will be written a name that no one understands but the one who receives it. You are who God says you are. So live in the light of that. Receive the blessing of it and rise up into what he's calling you to do. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

Faith, Doubt, Leaving the Faith A few years ago, I followed a well-known Christian influencer whose faith journey was encouraging many, including me. But recently, he announced he was stepping away from Christianity, citing years of wrestling with doubts about the fundamentals of the faith. He said his doubt was too overwhelming to maintain his Christian life. Hearing this was both difficult and confusing. I don't know his heart or what God is doing in this man's life, but I pray for him and trust him to the Lord's care. His story made me pause and ask: Is he the only one? How many of us have quietly struggled with similar doubts? How much doubt can we carry before it becomes paralyzing or makes us question where we stand with God? Today, we'll ask: What does it mean to doubt as a believer? How does God respond to our questions? Is there space for some doubt that isn't disruptive? And, ultimately, how do we move forward—growing in confidence and resembling Him more, even when we're not sure we have all the answers? Our goal is NOT to spread doubts and “infect” others, so to speak. However, we can acknowledge them without giving them too much power. What type of doubts have you experienced? Doubting the existence of God Struggling with doubts during challenges in life (wondering if there's a point in all of this – seeing God's hand) I hope our listeners know that they are not the only ones who may struggle with similar questions and wonder: how much doubt should I be having? We encourage you to keep reading, praying, and talking with the Lord about your doubts. Then, speak with mature Christians who have navigated these challenges. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! UNEDITED TRANSCRIPTION: 00:00:00 Patricia: Welcome to another Patterns of Truth podcast. A few years ago, I followed a well-known Christian Christian influencer whose faith journey was encouraging many, including me. But recently he announced that he was stepping away from Christianity, citing years of wrestling with doubts about the fundamentals of the faith. He said his doubt was too overwhelming to maintain his Christian life. Hearing this was both difficult and confusing. I don’t know his heart or what God is doing in this man’s life, but I pray for him and I trust in the Lord’s care. But his story made me pause and ask, is he the only one? How many of us have quietly struggled with similar doubts? How much doubt can we carry before it becomes paralyzing or makes us question where we stand with God? I’m Patricia, your host for today’s Patterns of Truth podcast. And today we will ask the question, what does it mean to doubt as a believer? How does God respond to our questions and our doubts? And is there space for some doubt that isn’t disruptive? Ultimately, how do we move forward, growing in confidence and resembling the Lord even more, even when we do not have all the answers? Our goal for today’s podcast and conversation is not to spread doubt and infect others with disbelief, so to speak, but we want to acknowledge that we all experience doubt from time to time without giving that doubt too much power. So hey everyone, we have Peter, Roy, and Bethel. How are you guys doing today? 00:01:31 Bethel: Good. How’s it going? Oh. 00:01:34 Patricia: Good. All right. So I want to launch right into our first question. Um and it doesn’t matter who answers, but what type of doubts have you experienced in your Christian life? 00:01:51 Bethel: I think even in my limited amount of life, as I go through different seasons, different phases, there’s always some point that I’m kind of like, Is God who he says he is in terms of, is God as good as he says he is? Is God um, always with me as he says he is? Which I mean, an utmost respect. I don’t mean that in any irreverent way, but I think that that’s normal, that we all kind of go through a point where we’re like, um, God, really with me. Is God really carrying me? Is God really sticking with me? 00:02:26 Patricia: MM. Yeah. Anybody else? What type of doubts have you experienced? 00:02:32 Peter: Like many of us who are new believers, I, uh, at the beginning of my salvation, uh, did doubt being saved. I remember praying multiple times. Um, and every time there was a salvation message, I was always worried, oh, no, if there’s another message. Um, until I reached a point where I prayed, Lord, you know, I don’t know what’s going on. And, um, I remember that I saw a difference in my life. And, uh, that was a shooting to me that, you know, the Lord worked in my heart. People didn’t know. They didn’t see the difference. But I knew the difference. I know that I started, you know, desiring to read scripture more. Um, my attitude towards life changed. Um, when I was I mean, still like a young, maybe thirteen years old. So that’s one of the doubts, um, that I had. Um. 00:03:39 Patricia: Okay. Right. 00:03:42 Roy: I, um, no doubt it’s been a long time. Uh, I’m the old guy on the podcast and I, uh, I don’t remember having doubts like Peter described, but I’m almost certain that I must have, uh, they’re long gone out of my memory, in any case, but, uh, for sure, uh, doubts about, um, details of life. Should I go this road or that road? Uh, what does this scripture mean? Why does, uh, somebody who’s wiser than I am think it means something different than I? Different than I believe it. So those are the kind of doubts that I’ve had mostly. Okay. Uh, and there’s been specific incidences when I’ve had to do something that had no knowledge that it would be the right thing or the wrong thing, but a decision had to be made. And it turns out, uh, years later, it was obvious that, um, that that was the right thing to do. So I think that’s an interesting experience. And I have to say, I was encouraged by a book, uh, by Elsie Cole. And I don’t remember the title of it right at the moment. Um, I’m, this is off the top of my head right now, but she was a missionary to China for many years and expressed the same sort of experience. So I was encouraged by that. Uh, we, we have to sometimes go ahead in our practical life, uh, on faith, uh, believing God is good and that he’s going to make everything work out and not worry about whether I’m doing exactly the right thing or not. Uh, because he’s sovereign and he’s good. And I think those two principles really have to guide us. Yeah. 00:05:39 Patricia: So I want to back up a little bit. Can we define doubt? What is it? Because I think we’re talking about like how it’s functioned in our lives. But, um, what actually is doubt? 00:05:56 Peter: I mean, my simple thought process, uh, um, like in simplicity, I would think is what I believe in is true or not. 00:06:06 Patricia: Mhm. 00:06:07 Peter: Um, what I feel confident about what I put my faith in. Is that true? Or is that just, uh, you know, Another imaginary thing or something that I, I made up. 00:06:24 Patricia: Oh yeah. It’s like a competing idea in your mind. Like, maybe I’m wrong about this whole thing. Yeah. So then thinking along those lines, can we have a little clarity? Are doubts a sign of weak faith, or can they be part of a normal Christian journey? 00:06:49 Bethel: I think we have to doubt at some point everybody’s gonna doubt. I think what differs is maybe what you will have doubts about. But I think that it’s normal that if you care about anything, you are inquisitive about it and you want to see it and you want to experience it. And so to doubt something means that you’re, I believe, spending time in it and that you are invested in it. So I think the same for your faith. If you want to see God’s hand. And maybe sometimes you don’t see it in the way you want to see it. You might doubt if you want to be saved. And so you hear a gospel message and you doubt. Each time it’s because you want. You want to be saved. You want to be sure that you’ve done it right. So I think that that can definitely be normal. Oh. 00:07:38 Roy: Doubt can be the means by which we expand our understanding. Um, I think I, I’m struck by what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians thirteen, verse twelve, I think, where we see through a dim window and I think it’s part of our human experience. Um, our limitations. And thankfully that’s going to be done away. Uh, in the new, uh, the new era, the new creation. Um, when we fully realize, um, two things. Uh, I think that’s in the same passage actually. First Corinthians thirteen that, which is, uh, partial will be put away. So, um, doubt prompts us to investigate. It should now it can be debilitating. And that’s where it becomes bad and a real hindrance when we come maybe obsessed with our doubt, but that that actually is a result of not really believing God is good. Because if we really believe that he’s good. Um, and I think scripture from page one enforces that on us. Um, even if we go back to the Garden of Eden and I think so much depends on the Garden of Eden or as revealed there, what happened? Uh, our first parents failed miserably and it was catastrophic. The, the failure. It’s affected every human being that’s ever lived. And yet what has come out of that? Um. The Lord, speaking to his disciples in John twelve said, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. Well, that is such a profound verse, and it explains why God allowed the fall and what he’s done about it. We could not really be inheritors with Christ if Christ had not come into this life to save us. As a man, he is now risen man and we’re going to be like him. All of that’s made possible by the fall. If you think about it. So here are the most catastrophic failure result in the most catastrophic injustice that the world has ever seen, which resulted in the most incredible blessing that eternity will require us to investigate. So when you think about that pattern, then the only way we can explain it, I think, is by realizing that God is good and that he nothing is going to get slipped through his fingers, as it were. So we can be complacent in our relationship with him. He’s going to take care of us. And that includes, like in Hebrews tells us about the discipline. You know, he will discipline us if need be, but what’s the result of that? It’s going to be so that we learn righteousness and we improve. And so when you when you realize that, then doubts cannot be debilitating. They have to be simply a doorway to understanding more about what God has for us. Well. 00:11:14 Patricia: I appreciate how you mentioned, um, our for parents because I think that, um, for anyone who’s struggling with doubt, maybe they think that they’re the only ones, but there are many doubters that are featured in the Bible with a variety of solutions. And so, um, you mentioned, um, Adam and Eve. So, uh, I’ll just go down the list, right. And we can talk about what each doubt was about and how the doubts were resolved, or if that individual was overwhelmed by doubt. So we’ve got Abraham, Sarah, Barak, Gideon, Jonah, and we’ve got Thomas in the New Testament. So I want to take a crack at it. What was the doubt about and how was it resolved? Anybody? 00:12:05 Roy: Eve doubted the goodness of God. If anything, that’s got to be the fundamental doubt. Oh, she was in a. Are they? I should say, you know, we pick on Eve. But they were both there. Adam and Eve. Um, Adam could have intervened, but he didn’t. Um but. They were surrounded by every possible evidence of the goodness of God. And there was one requirement and basically said Satan came to them and said, okay, this thing that God has kept from you, that’s evidence that he’s not really good. MM. That was really the bottom, I think the bottom line. Temptation. Mhm. And they, they fell for it. 00:12:59 Patricia: Yeah. 00:12:59 Roy: So it was the goodness of God manifested. And they were tricked into doubting God’s goodness. 00:13:09 Patricia: Especially the part of. Well, you will be as gods, right? So then there’s this idea of, oh, he’s withholding something from me. I can be elevated. What is this? Right. The doubt of God’s goodness, but also something about the self. There’s something right. Why can’t be greater than what I am. Why not? Right. Yeah. Well, that’s a really good one. So I guess, well, considering all your comments before like that doubt was not necessarily resolved because we are all where we are right now. Um, it wasn’t. 00:13:41 Bethel: But it had to happen. It had to happen for God’s goodness, God’s ultimate goodness and ultimate grace with us to be presented. So ultimately, and I think that that’s the, what we can learn about all of these examples in the Old Testament is that no matter what doubt they had, God’s will was what it was in the end, and God was who he said he was in the end. And so I think that that’s something beautiful. Like our next example was Abraham. And Abraham doubted God’s promise, and he tried to go about things in his way that he saw fit. But where did he end up? Yes, he made a big mistake with Hagar in Egypt as well with Sarah. But ultimately God’s will came to be what he promised. And, you know, we have Isaac and we have the this blessing. And so sometimes it’s a matter of, yes, we will make the mistakes that we will make. We will doubt even a New Testament example. The disciples were with the Lord in the boat, and they doubted. They feared they panicked. But ultimately, God is going to be who he says he’s going to be. He’s going to do his will. He’s going to carry us through whether we see it or we don’t. Oh. 00:14:56 Patricia: I love that. The question then it kind of goes right back to the same thing Roy was saying. The disciples in the boat, they said, Lord, do you not care that we are about to die? Right. 00:15:07 Speaker 6: And still he was right there with them. 00:15:09 Patricia: Right. The like, don’t you know? Right. Because for us, right. The biggest fear and threat is death, right? We all want to survive death no matter what. And it’s like, well, don’t you see? This is what’s the end is going to be. Um, but he does see. So so you got Sarah Barak Gideon, Jonah Thomas. What was the doubt about? How was it resolved? 00:15:39 Peter: Well, we’ll talk about Abraham and Sarah, right. That, uh, um, they Abraham doubted that God is going to fulfill his promise of having a child under. There was a consequences of that. Oh, there was another child instead of Isaac, Ishmael. And that caused heartache, you know, and, and his life and, you know, in the future too. Um, because he didn’t trust the Lord. And, you know, honestly, if we think about it, we would be in the same place. Uh, imagine being old and not having a child and still trying to trust that the Lord promise will be fulfilled. Uh, I. 00:16:28 Speaker 6: Would have left, too. 00:16:32 Peter: Yeah. 00:16:33 Patricia: And hers was like a very much about the boys. 00:16:35 Peter: Yeah. And he knows exactly what he’s doing, you know? 00:16:38 Speaker 6: Yeah. 00:16:40 Patricia: Yeah. And her particular doubt. I’m trying to find it in Genesis was about the limitations of her body. Right in age. Right. And like, how can a dead womb bring forth like, what is this? Like, this is not possible. Right. I know how old I am, right? That’s what she was saying. Um. All right. Uh, Barrett. Gideon. Jonah. Thomas. 00:17:06 Bethel: Can I just add one more thing to the Abraham and Sarah conversation? The good, the beautiful thing is that we don’t just see it in Genesis, but we see it in Hebrews as well. Mhm. That’s that’s the point, I think, because it doesn’t. Go ahead, brother Roy and Galatians. 00:17:25 Roy: Galatians is a very important lesson. 00:17:28 Bethel: Yes. But that it wasn’t just. Yes. They doubted, yes, that that was what happened. But at the end of the day, God was faithful. God was faithful. And even though they doubted, they they still went about it and they still followed the will of the Lord. And in in Hebrews eleven, Sarah has described, uh, in verse eleven, actually, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed. She bore a child when she was past the age because she judged him. Capital H judged God faithful who had promised. And so it’s that’s the end of their story. And that’s the beautiful part. 00:18:09 Patricia: Yeah, I love that part. She counted him faithful, who had promised. Right. And it wasn’t. He was faithful. Right. The conclusion. Yeah. Not like well, I, you know, I had some really good herbs and I just changed my diet. And then I figured it out. It was. He was faithful. 00:18:26 Bethel: He was faithful. 00:18:27 Patricia: And gave her the power to conceive. Yeah. Peter, I know you had Gideon before. Oh, sorry. 00:18:35 Bethel: Yeah. Give us. Give us some Gideon. Peter. 00:18:39 Peter: Uh, uh, uh, when we were just, uh, planning for the recording, just before we started recording, I. I told the group that how much I love the story of Gideon. 00:18:50 Patricia: Mhm. 00:18:51 Peter: Um, we know typically of the first doubt that he had, which is doubting himself if he’s able to go and fight for the Lord. The enemies and the Lord showed miracle. You know a couple miracles for him to reassure him, but he also doubted afterwards also. Oh, um, if he’s going to win. After they sifted the army to three hundred people, three hundred men, um, and he was not sure. And the Lord answered his doubt too. So, um, doubt will continue to happen. And if we take it to the Lord, um, um, a mighty man like Gideon had multiple doubts and the Lord used him and he can use us also. 00:19:47 Patricia: So kind of going off of that then, Peter, what’s the, what’s the biblical pattern for a dressing down. So we know doubters in the Bible existed, right? This is a human condition, right? We see it in ourselves. We see it there. So what’s the biblical pattern for addressing this type of doubt? 00:20:06 Peter: Well, I’ll start by saying we have to be honest to the Lord. Come to him with Lord, you know, and this is what’s going on. 00:20:18 Speaker 7: Oh, yeah. 00:20:20 Bethel: And isn’t that what he wants? Because I don’t think like we’ve already acknowledged doubt is not necessarily a bad thing. And so doesn’t he want us to come to him with our questions and with our curiosities and with our struggles? 00:20:31 Speaker 7: Mhm. 00:20:31 Bethel: That’s how that’s how I felt that as has shown up in my life. Like sometimes it will literally take me going through something to continuously tell myself. But I know God is good, but I know God will come through. But I know God is who he says he is until I believe it. 00:20:49 Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. 00:20:50 Bethel: And I, I think we see that in Scripture that we’ve mentioned. 00:20:54 Patricia: It makes me think of the Scripture. Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. And sometimes we think of cares as which they can be like the issues of this life. Lord, I don’t know how I’m going to get through this financial problem or Lord, I’ve been praying for something for a long time. But what if someone’s care that constantly is on their heart is Lord, I’m just not sure about this. Fill in the blank, right? Whatever he’s asking someone to do or something to believe. Lord, that’s a care. It’s weighing you down, right? Roll off that care onto him like, Lord, I don’t know what it is. This unbelief is just overwhelming me. Help me. Right. I think that is a it is a care that can affect us, right? Big time depending on what is going on in life. Um, but yeah, so. Roy. Peter oh, sorry, Roy because Peter already answered a biblical pattern for addressing doubt. 00:21:53 Roy: Well, like Peter said, we we first of all have to be honest. And I like the story of the man who brought his paralytic. His paralytic son to, um. To the Lord. Uh, for, um, for help. Uh, he was a a demon, actually a demon possessed boy. Um, who, um, I suppose in modern language, it’d be like an epileptic fit, but, uh, it was demonic. Uh, it wasn’t just epilepsy, but he, um, appealed to the Lord. And, um, the Lord said, um. Um. Uh, Jesus said to him, yeah, I’m looking at the verse. He said to him, if thou couldst believe all things are possible to him that believes. And immediately the father of the young child, crying out, said with tears, I believe, help my unbelief. So, um. 00:23:12 Patricia: Or is that. 00:23:12 Speaker 7: Roy? 00:23:13 Roy: Uh, that’s uh, Mark nine twenty four, the verse I read. Okay. Um, and I think it’s important to realize that God, again, is a good God and he’s going to, um, not base his mercy on the weakness of our faith, but he’s going to take what it is. 00:23:36 Speaker 7: Uh. Huh. Yeah. 00:23:38 Roy: So, um, so the point is to come to the Lord with our difficulties and trust him to guide us. And he will. 00:23:49 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:23:51 Peter: But to what Roy is saying, we don’t base our future and our confidence on our feelings or our emotions, but on or the circumstances. But on truth and truth comes from Scripture. So regardless of how we feel or what we’re going through, we have to go back to the truth and scripture. 00:24:16 Speaker 7: Yeah. Mhm. That’s very good. Um, I know. 00:24:21 Patricia: That before. 00:24:22 Speaker 7: We were. 00:24:23 Patricia: We pressed record, we were talking about two Psalms, um, that have a really nice pattern of what we do when we’re struggling with, um, a doubt or a particular perspective. Um, and obviously these were written a long time ago, um, by Jewish people. So there are some things that are mentioned in both the Psalms that don’t necessarily apply to us here as Christians in twenty twenty five, but the principles are really good to examine. So I know that we mentioned Psalm forty two, which is titled, why are you cast down, O my soul? And Roy, you gave us Psalm seventy three, and Psalm seventy three is a Psalm of Asaph. So Psalm forty two is from the sons of the sons of Korah, and seventy three is a psalm of Asaph. So not from David, but really, really great principles throughout. And, um, we read, we read the two Psalms before we came on the recording, but I would just encourage our listeners to go ahead and read and read those Psalms, because they both follow a pattern of observing hard things right in, in life, looking at the wicked prospering or um, our soul is cast down. And every time the psalmist, these two psalmists go through their doubts, they remind themselves of the goodness of the Lord and how the Lord has delivered them and Israel over and over again. And so even in the face of our own faithlessness, the psalmist keeps coming back to hope in the Lord, hope in the Lord. And I think that this it really matches up with so much of what’s been said already. Um, and it’s really great to see that pattern in scripture that the Lord left this for us to say, this is what you can do when you’re struggling. 00:26:19 Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. 00:26:24 Patricia: So what does honest prayer look like in seasons of doubt? You’re struggling. You’re overwhelmed. Roy, you mentioned like debilitating doubt where everything feels like you’re not sure. Right. And I imagine that’s really difficult. Right? You walk out the front door, it’s like something’s going to fall on me if my car got to break down. Like it’s so much anxiety. So what does that honest prayer look like when things get intense and it’s not that healthy curiosity, that questioning. 00:26:54 Roy: Well, we’ve talked a lot about the goodness of God, and I think that has to be really the underpinning. If if God is not good, then everything is hopeless. Um, that ends in nihilism. So, um, the goodness of God really is behind our prayers. So we may not see it. And that’s why the Psalm seventy three is so good, because the expressions there can reflect, um, a hopelessness really. 00:27:29 Speaker 7: Um. 00:27:30 Roy: But the conclusion there is when he says, I went into the sanctuary. 00:27:36 Speaker 7: MM. 00:27:36 Roy: So the key that’s, you know, our prayers. And so if we have a sense that God is there and he’s listening. 00:27:46 Speaker 7: Mhm. 00:27:47 Roy: Um, then that forms the basis of whatever appeal, uh, we can put. And I think there is going to be a response. 00:27:56 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:27:57 Patricia: Also, do you feel like that’s a change in perspective to like, sometimes we can become so preoccupied with our own thoughts and our own, I don’t know, our own ideas and doubts. And then we go to where the Lord is, right? We go to his house with his people and something. 00:28:14 Roy: That’s right. The whole first part of the Psalm is an external review. He’s just looking at others. 00:28:20 Speaker 7: Mhm. 00:28:21 Roy: And that’s never a good solution. We have to look to the Lord. 00:28:24 Speaker 7: Mhm. Yeah. 00:28:27 Patricia: So I guess it’s good. Like, if we’re struggling with something, we shouldn’t stay away. We shouldn’t stay away from meeting with other Christians because Lord might have something So precise not might he will have something so precise to say to us that will help us, that we would not get if we just stayed alone in our own minds. 00:28:48 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:28:49 Peter: Well, I say, I encourage I’ve done it once or twice before to write down your prayer on a piece of paper and, uh, um, read it. And while you’re reading it, you can write down underneath it what are the lies that you are believing in? Um, so maybe the lie is God doesn’t care for me or God is not present in my life. Um, or God is withholding something good from me. Um, and then underneath it, write the truth. Uh, from a verse in scripture. 00:29:29 Speaker 7: That’s really good. 00:29:30 Peter: And, uh, this can be a practical, easy way to. Or and you can go back to it, you know, when you’re struggling with the same data again. 00:29:39 Speaker 7: Mhm. 00:29:39 Peter: Read my prayer again. Mhm. That’s why I believe the lie is. And what’s the that’s the truth. And that can be an encouragement. 00:29:49 Speaker 7: That’s really good. 00:29:50 Patricia: I even sorry, Bethel. 00:29:53 Speaker 7: Go ahead. 00:29:53 Bethel: No. Even a step further. A lot of people journal. And so they’ll journal their prayers this way. And it helps even in a few months time, further down, when you’re dealing with a new season or you’re struggling with something else to look back and be able to say, wow, remember when I was struggling with that and the Lord got me through? Wow. Remember how I felt? And he really revealed himself to me. That’s that same God. He hasn’t changed. My circumstances have just risen again and I’m in a new lesson. But he’s still the same God. 00:30:22 Speaker 7: We tend to forget. 00:30:24 Roy: What you just what you just said might sound mechanical to some people, but that’s exactly what many of the Psalms are. their recounting of what God did in the past. 00:30:39 Speaker 7: Okay. 00:30:40 Patricia: That’s good to do it again. I remember I heard a suggestion one time from a preacher who said similar to what you said, Peter, but like when you write down your prayer, you write down next to it the date where you really started praying about it intensely. And when God answers, whether it’s a yes or no or a wait, you put the date next to it. So you see the bookend because our minds naturally go, oh, thanks God, that was great. We just move on up and don’t remember like, oh, like the Lord. Really? He, he solved that for me in a way that I couldn’t have done myself. Um, but yeah, I heard that as an encouragement one time. Now I’m like, I gotta go back and do that. Write down the date where it was answered, right? Because our minds will say, oh, like God hasn’t done anything for me. And that is a that’s a doubt. That’s a lie. Oh, like he hasn’t, but he has. Right. And if we keep a record of that, I really do believe it will help buoy us, um, over time. So, um, but I’d like to ask, is it possible for doubt to strengthen our faith over time? 00:31:51 Peter: Definitely. 00:31:53 Speaker 7: Okay. 00:31:56 Roy: I think in my, my experience, um, like I mentioned before, perhaps my most experiences doubting about what something means, uh, what Scripture means. And I think, um, doubt, as I said before, is really the doorway to understanding more about what the issue is. MM. Um, and I think often people that don’t doubt have shallow thoughts about what something means, um, scripture in particular Is amazingly profound. We don’t realize how profound it is, and very often. Um, even reading a slightly different translation, even reading a translation that’s not very good will sometimes prompt ideas about what a verse means that you would not have otherwise thought of. And of course, the, the, the problem might be that you’ll be led astray, but you have to deal with that. And the way you deal with it is keeping in mind another verse from Isaiah that’s very important. And that is little that we learn little by little here, a little there, a little, uh, line upon line, precept upon precept. So there’s no oh, and the other verse that’s really important is in Peter. Uh, no. Scripture is of its own isolated interpretation. I’m paraphrasing that which I think is misunderstood by some of the modern translations. Um, Darby has it right. These are important principles. We need to have a general knowledge of Scripture, because what one verse seems to say will be if we misinterpret a verse in one place, maybe put it this way, then that can be corrected by a verse in another place. So we have to have a general understanding, a general knowledge of Scripture. 00:34:01 Speaker 7: Oh, okay. 00:34:04 Patricia: So my last question is about, um, encouragement for people who are doubting right now, because I feel like, and I’ve experienced this in my own life, that when we experience doubts or someone close to us or near to us is doubting, we can recoil from that person. Um, if they express a doubt that is scary to us, Like, oh, well, that’s like a fundamental that you should just believe, right? Or we feel very uncomfortable or uncomfortable or unsettled by that doubt. Um, maybe it’s something that we doubt as well, but we don’t want to admit it. Like, how do we deal with other Christians who express doubts that make us uncomfortable? How do we encourage them and deal with that? 00:34:51 Roy: Can I start by talking a little bit more personal about this? Not with other people, but anything that comes up? Uh, a question maybe you hear a preacher on the internet or whatever, a faith in the in a Christian sense. And I think this is so important that we understand that faith is really not gullible. We don’t believe something when we don’t have evidence for it. Christian faith is evidence based. And when John was writing his gospel, he said, I think it’s in verse chapter twenty or so. He said, these things have I written? Okay. John was an eyewitness, and he had other people around him that had also witnessed the same thing. So he had to be accurate in what he said. And he wrote a lot of things that were pretty precise about what the Lord said. So we have to look at that and say, wow, this guy knew what he was talking about. He was a reliable witness. He had people that would have beat him around the head and shoulders if he had said something wrong. Right. You know, Peter would not let some John say something wrong. I think we can. We get we get that from Peter, at least. He was pretty outspoken. So John had to write what he had seen and heard in a pretty accurate way. We have a faith that is based on written records of what people saw. The Apostle Paul wrote about the resurrection in chapter fifteen of First Corinthians. And he could say, look, if you doubt what I’m telling you, go ask those five hundred people that are hanging around. Well, some of them have died, but go ask them. 00:36:51 Speaker 7: Huh? 00:36:51 Roy: They know what they’re talking about. They know what they heard and saw. And so we have solid evidence for what we believe. So doubts come up. What’s your evidence? Where’s your evidence? You know, somebody tells me something. Where’s your evidence? 00:37:12 Speaker 7: Mhm. 00:37:13 Roy: And another principle connected with this is that the first thing that we hear or the first thing that we see might not be the the correct. You know, there’s a proverb. It’s it’s phrased as if someone was telling you something. He. That is, if he that is first in his own cause seemeth just. But his neighbor comes and searches him out. That’s a actually a very fundamental principle. The first thing that I that comes into my mind when I’m reading Scripture might not be correct. I have to keep reading. I have to question it. I have to doubt it, as it were. That’s why I say doubting can be a pathway to deeper understanding. And that’s a principle that we need to realize. If you read something in scripture, come back and read it again next year or a month later, don’t just, you know, it’s something that we have to learn over time. We accumulate evidence that puts our doubts. a side. 00:38:24 Peter: I’d like to share a kind of different side of doubt. If you’re doubting, uh, because of doubting God’s goodness or doubting the Lord’s faithfulness through difficult circumstances, I’d encourage you to write down and memorize verses about perseverance and persevere. And I’d like to share one of them, which is James one twelve. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial. For once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. And there’s multiple others. I have four verses that I keep just so I can. The Lord, you know, tells us to persevere and difficult circumstances and difficult times of doubt. 00:39:11 Speaker 7: That’s good. 00:39:12 Bethel: I don’t think there’s ever been a time that I doubted and didn’t come out Stronger in my faith after going through it with the Lord. And so for me, I just say, let it be a chance for him to prove himself to you. If I can say that so plainly. But let it be a time where God can come through for you again. And this is something you remember in the future. Like, oh, remember when I struggled with this? And then the Lord really came through this way and cling on to that. And like Peter and Roy have said, go back into scripture, find where he has done that for all of mankind. Because every one of those stories, the Lord is still faithful. The Lord is still good. The Lord is still with us. He’s overcome the doubt. He is who he is. And let this be a chance for him to prove that to you again. 00:39:59 Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. 00:40:01 Patricia: I feel like that’s really, I feel like I think about why memorization is so important. Um, memorizing the word of God because there’s, we have so many thoughts. And when you do memorize scripture, the Holy Spirit will bring it to mind as a block, right? And because sometimes you don’t have time to sit down and write in your journal and go find that because something will come up while you’re driving in your mind or you’re working, you’re doing something right and it comes in your face. And what is the what is the defense against that? Right? I need to be ready. Like, obviously, like the Lord knows all. But when Satan came to him, he said, it is written and I need to be ready with my. It is written right to speak and say no. Like this is like, this is what the truth of Scripture is. So that’s my challenge to myself and to others. Like, I know it’s so easy to just scroll on your Bible app, right? Google it. But memorization is still the way to go. Um, yeah. So, well, thank you, Peter Roy and Bethel for this important conversation about doubt and living as a Christian. I hope that our listeners know that they are not the only ones who may struggle with similar questions. And we touched very, very lightly on people in the Scripture who struggle with doubt. And there were a variety of ways the Lord spoke to them and spoke to what they were struggling with. So I would encourage everyone, of course, I think the best place to start is in the positive. Go to Hebrews eleven, the Hall of Faith, right? Read about faith because we talked about Sarah and Abraham and their struggles. But you know, the conclusion of the matter is that through faith, right? Um, Sarah judged him people, he who, um, had promised and he gave her the strength to conceive. And so we see the end, right? And what the Lord does and how he gives us faith because we can’t get it from ourselves. So, um, we encourage you to keep reading the Bible. That’s the number one thing. Keep reading, keep praying. Talk to the Lord about your doubts. Don’t hide them from him. Tell him that you are struggling. Um, and then I would encourage you to talk to some mature Christians who have navigated these challenges so they can encourage you in ways that you probably have never thought of before. So for more about this topic, you can check out our various articles and Q and A’s at patternsof dot org. See you next time, everybody, for another conversation about how to live this Christian life. Bye. 00:42:33 Patricia: Thank you for listening to the Patterns of Truth podcast. We invite you to join us for our next episode. And we also encourage you to check out Patterns of truth dot org, where we post articles every week for the encouragement and growth of Christ followers. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to submit them on our website. I’m Peter. Until next time. The post Shadow of a Doubt: Can Your Faith Survive It? appeared first on Patterns of Truth.

March 25, 2026

Pastor David Harris Wednesday March 18, 2026

March 18, 2026

Pastor David Harris Wednesday March 11, 2026

First Corinthians 11 has some stern warnings about how we "do communion." ******* By the way, if you haven't bought a copy of my new book yet, check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Visions-Stories-Faith-Pastor/dp/161493536X

March 11, 2026

Why does it bother us when someone doesn’t seem to like us? In this episode, we unpack the tension between people-pleasing and God-pleasing. While the desire to gain favor with others can stem from good intentions, it can easily shift into seeking approval instead of living from love. Scripture reminds us that our ultimate aim is not to please people — but to love them well. When love and faithfulness guide our thoughts, words, and actions, we find ourselves resting in God’s approval rather than striving for human validation. What We Discuss The difference between loving people and pleasing people Why human approval is unstable How our hearts can deceive us Filtering our actions through biblical love What it truly means to gain favor in God’s sight This episode is sponsored by Trinity Debt Management. If you are struggling with debt call Trinity today. Trinity's counselors have the knowledge and resources to make a difference. Our intention is to help people become debt-free, and most importantly, remain debt-free for keeps!" If your debt has you down, we should talk. Call us at 1-800-793-8548 | https://trinitycredit.org TrinityCredit – Call us at 1-800-793-8548. Whether we're helping people pay off their unsecured debt or offering assistance to those behind in their mortgage payments. https://trinitycredit.org Full Transcript Below: Gaining Favor in the Eyes of God and Others By Keri Eichberger Bible Reading:Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4) The sad truth is, it sincerely upsets me when someone doesn’t seem to like me. And though I’ve certainly struggled with people-pleasing, I’ve come to the conclusion that my concern over how another may perceive me isn’t just about pleasing the person. Not to mention, I know people are impossible to always please. But I’m beginning to believe the majority of my mission to receive favor in the eyes of others is rooted in the desire to do the right thing. Not necessarily by them, but by God. But to be honest, discerning the God-honoring way can be tricky at times. Because my heart and mind can deceive me. That’s true for all of us. We may tell ourselves our words and actions are justified and right. But too often our human flesh naturally prompts us toward selfish motives. So occasionally, when someone seems to have an issue with me, I start to wonder if they are sensing such behavior, and are justified in their ill thinking and feelings. On the flipside, if someone seems to be pleased with me, if I appear to have their favor, it sometimes serves as an indicator that I’m on the right path. But then again, this thought process is flawed as well. Do you ever personally fall into people-pleasing? Or simply and strongly desire to gain favor in the eyes of others? If, like me, you do find yourself aspiring to find right standing with people, why does it matter to you? Though the more important questions we should consider are: What really matters? And who really matters? We certainly can’t always please people, because we are all flawed and imperfect. But we aren’t called to please people anyway. We are called to love them. God is the only one we should ultimately aim to please. He alone is whom we ought to set our hearts on pleasing. He is who we ought to set out to please. Because of our love for God—because he first loved us. And what is pleasing to God is our loving him and loving others. Our goal should not be to please others, but to love others—for the sake of God and our love for him. In our quest to transition from pleasing to loving, our goal should also be to love the way God called us to love. The way Jesus loved. And I’m sure you’re closely familiar with this passage, but he perfectly describes how he longs for us to love in 1 Corinthians 13. Verses 4-7 read, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. This type of love is a tall order, no doubt. But this is a replica of what love looks like in the eyes of our all-loving Lord. These are the attributes we should aim for in learning to love. And as we learn to love more and more like God commanded us to love, we will find favor in his eyes and of others. Intersecting Faith & Life: Proverbs 3:3 encourages us to, Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. And verse 4 claims, Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. So, if you desire to find favor with the Lord and those around you, let love never leave you. Instead of seeking to please people, make it your life mission to love better. Practice filtering your thoughts, decisions, words, and every action through the First Corinthians love filter. Are your actions patient, humble, kind, selfless, drenched in truth and holiness? Are your words those of protection, trust, hope, and perseverance? This is love. While it’s not necessarily wrong to desire to want to please others, the heart and goal behind this desire should truly be to love them. As God would love. For the sake of God. Determine to root your desire to gain favor with those around you in your desire to please God. Let that desire to please God fuel your fire to love like God. And in loving like him, you may gain favor with others, but your striving to please people will be replaced with refreshed and confident rest that you are pleasing in the eyes of our good God. And that is all that really matters. If you liked what you read, I think you will love my latest book, Win Over Worry: Conquer What Shakes You and Soar With the One Who Overcomes. You can find it on Amazon or your favorite online retail site. I hope it blesses you! Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

February 25, 2026

Mass Readings for Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 15, 2026 Reading 1, Sirach 15:15-20 Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34 Reading 2, First Corinthians 2:6-10 Gospel, Matthew 5:17-37

Jase skips duck season for a few days to go treasure hunting and stumbles into a reminder about how quickly towns—and priorities—can disappear. Uncle Si's joke about having the “wrong weapon” resurfaces, and Jase finally understands after it took decades to land. The guys pivot into a deeper discussion of wisdom, drawing from Proverbs to argue that wisdom isn't a list of rules, but the grain God built into creation itself.  In this episode: Genesis 9; Acts 10; Leviticus 18; John 1, verses 1–14; Hebrews 1, verses 1–4; Proverbs 8, verses 1 and 22–31; Matthew 11, verse 19; First Corinthians 1, verse 24; First Corinthians 1, verse 30; Colossians 1, verse 15; Colossians 1, verse 28; Colossians 2, verse 3; Ephesians 2, verses 8–10; First John 1, verses 1–3; First John 2, verse 6; First John 3, verse 5; First John 3, verse 24 “Unashamed” Episode 1245 is sponsored by: https://meetfabric.com/unashamed — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family. https://bravebooks.com/unashamed — Get 20% off with code UNASHAMED https://chministries.org/unashamed — See why Christians are ditching health insurance for good. Get a simpler alternative at half the cost! http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ — Sign up now for free, and join the Unashamed hosts every Friday for Unashamed Academy Powered by Hillsdale College Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-home-with-phil-robertson/id1835224621 Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters: 00:00-09:10 Jase hunts with the wrong weapon 09:11-15:00 “Unashamed” gets censored?! 15:01-24:02 The key to understanding the whole Bible 24:03-34:19 Is wisdom a person or an ideal? 34:20-44:48 Jesus as the “firstborn” of creation 44:49-54:24 How to wrap your brain around being forgiven — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices