Podcasts about in christ

We are kicking off our Summer at Bethlehem series with a head-first dive into the life-changing power of God's Word. The Bible is not just ancient information; it is living, active, and timely. In this raw and deeply personal message, Pastor Jason opens up about his own years-long battle with anxiety to expose a universal truth: the biggest battle of your life is won and lost in the six-inch real estate between your ears - your MIND.   Preaching from Philippians 4:4-9, a passage written from the depths of a Roman prison rather than an Instagram motivational seminar, Pastor Jason teaches us that a healthy mind requires an intentional spiritual diet. If you have been trapped on an island of worry, playing out worst-case scenarios, this message serves as a practical guide to stop stuffing your emotions and start discipling your mind.  

The tragedy is that many sincere believers love Jesus deeply while still living trapped inside performance-based identity systems.And today I want us to rediscover something radical: In Christ, your value is not rooted in your productivity.You are not what you produce.Hester Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Present Truth Academy ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rorschach God⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

"For the same reason you alsobe glad and rejoice with me." The Apostle Paul is inviting thePhilippians to share in his joy. Nowthink about it. Paul is in prison, suffering and uncertain about the future.Yet he keeps speaking about joy. This teaches us something so important:Christian joy is not based on circumstances. It is based on Jesus Christ. Theworld's happiness rises and falls with comfort and success, but biblical joycan exist even in suffering. Paul and the Philippians were united in sacrifice,service, and joy. TrueChristian fellowship is much deeper than just a social connection. You may goto church, attend Sunday school, participate in church events, and spend timewith other believers. You may go golfing together, play tennis, or enjoy otheractivities together. Those things are wonderful. But true Christian fellowshipis deeper than simply enjoying social events together. True fellowship issharing together in the work of Jesus Christ. Thereis joy in serving with other believers. There is joy in praying together. Thereis joy in giving together. Yes, there is even joy in suffering together. Thereis joy in seeing lives changed through the work of God as we labor togetherwith fellow believers. Some of the deepest joy believers experience comesduring difficult seasons when they see God working in powerful ways. Acts 5tells us that after the apostles were beaten, they returned to the churchrejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ's name. James1 reminds us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials,tribulations, and troubles, knowing that the testing of our faith producespatience. Suffering produces Christian maturity in our lives. Joy grows when weserve God's purposes and trust God's purposes, even in suffering. Paul wantedthese believers not merely to survive hardship, but to rejoice in the middle ofit. That kind of joy becomes a testimony to the world. People expect us torejoice when things are going well. But when Christians rejoice in trials, theworld sees something supernatural, something different, and they want what wehave. Only Christ can produce that kind of joy in our lives. Maybetoday you're carrying burdens, disappointments, or heartaches. Remember this:your joy does not depend upon changing circumstances. It depends upon anunchanging Savior. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Heis still on the throne. God is still working. The gospel is still true. Heavenis still ahead. Because of that, we can rejoice. We'vebeen talking about the submissive mind here in Philippians 2. As Paul hasdescribed it, the submissive mind ultimately produces joy. The submissive mindis the same as a surrendered life. And a surrendered life produces joy inChrist. The Bible teaches us that Jesus humbled Himself. He obeyed the Father.He endured the cross. He now reigns in glory. Thatreminds me of Hebrews 12:1–3: "Therefore we also, since we aresurrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, andthe sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the racethat is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of ourfaith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising theshame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For considerHim who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you becomeweary and discouraged in your souls." My friend, when we follow thesame principle that Jesus practiced, we discover that surrender leads to joy. Let'spray together. Father, thank You for the joy that is found only in JesusChrist. Teach us to rejoice not only in blessings, but also in sacrifice andservice. Help us to trust You in every circumstance and reflect the joy ofChrist to the world around us. In Jesus' name, Amen. Godbless and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day!

Let Go of Control—God's Plan Is Better Than Yours (FULL SURRENDER) | Blessed Morning Prayer SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

This passage calls us to take sin seriously without losing sight of the grace of God. In Christ, believers find both forgiveness for past sin and help in the ongoing fight for holiness.This sermon was preached at Legacy Reformed Baptist Church in East Grand Forks, MN. For more information, visit LegacyRBC.org.

 In Christ, free from condemnation

What does it really mean to be in Christ?In this powerful teaching series from Central City Assembly, Pastor Kai walks verse-by-verse through the book of Ephesians to help believers understand their true identity in Jesus, the transforming power of the gospel, and how to live with purpose every day.The phrase “in Christ” changes everything. It speaks to who we are, what we've been given, and how we're called to live. In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul reveals the spiritual blessings we have in Christ, the grace that saves us, the unity of the Church, and the practical call to walk in holiness, love, and spiritual strength.Whether you're new to faith, exploring Christianity, or a long-time believer wanting deeper spiritual growth, In Christ will anchor your heart in the gospel and equip you to walk confidently in who Jesus says you are.Reflection Questions:Where in your life are you still thinking of yourself as someone merely near the light instead of someone who has been made light in the Lord?What fruit is your life producing right now, and does it reflect what Paul calls good, right, and true?Where do you need to stop asking, “What can I get away with?” and start asking, “Lord, does this please you?”What hidden place in your life needs to be brought into the light so Christ can expose it, heal it, transform it, and use your life as an invitation to others?

What is enough? How do you know when you have enough? Is the answer: “Just a little more . . .”? If so, you're not alone, but you're also on a dangerous road. From the rich fool who built bigger barns to the algorithm that lives in our pocket, something has always been working to convince us that the next thing is the thing that will finally make us secure. But Jesus names a deeper truth: greed isn't really about money at all. It's about where we go for safety, and whether we trust our stuff or our Father to be the ground beneath our feet. Greed Dr. Eric J. Gilchrest | May 31, 2026 Check out the weekly sermon here or on our SRBC podcast on Apple Podcast and Spotify. This Sunday we're exploring:The rich fool of Luke 12 and how building a bigger barn was a dangerous replacement for the work only God can doHow the algorithm and our social media networks form us every day into people who can never quite be satisfiedGreed as a trust problem: the quiet transfer of our security from God to the things in our closets or our bank accountsWhy the offering plate is one of the most counter-cultural things we do — and how the practice of charity and generosity is an important way we take the offramp from greed back onto the narrow road that leads to abundant life Like what you hear? We'd love to know.At South Run, we read every message personally. Whether you have a question, want to share how God is moving in your life, or are thinking about visiting in person, this is the place to start. If you click the link below, Pastor Eric will personally reach out to you. Listening online? Let us know. Sermon Transcript South Run Baptist Church | Springfield, VAPastor Eric GilchrestMark 3:1–6; Matthew 5:21–22; Exodus 34:6–9; Jonah 4May 10, 2026 — Mother's DayThis is a full sermon transcript from South Run Baptist Church in Springfield, Virginia. In this message, Pastor Eric Gilchrest preaches on anger and wrath as part of the ongoing "The Jesus Way" transformation series on the seven deadly sins. Drawing from Mark 3, Genesis 4, Exodus 34, Jonah 4, and Matthew 5, this sermon takes the congregation on a biblical tour of what Scripture says about anger — the difference between righteous and unrighteous anger, what Jesus' own anger reveals about the nature of God, and how to keep the fire in the fireplace. Announcements: Bridge Walkers and a Joint Service on May 31stGood morning, friends. It's good to be with you. Before we get started, there's just a couple things I want to say. There's something that I haven't alerted you to yet, but this is as good a time as any. So a few weeks ago, right before Easter, I was invited into a group of pastors who met over the course of two days, and there was an evening together. We stayed at a hotel. There was a grant connected to it. And it was a group of white pastors and a group of black pastors in the area here, in the Virginia, D.C., Maryland area. And the hope of this — it's a group called Bridge Walkers, which gets its name from the walk from Selma to Montgomery back in the 60s. And as somebody who lived right outside of Selma in Marion, Alabama, I know the scene well. In fact, I was there at the 50th anniversary of it in 2013, and it was a really powerful event. And so the meeting was one that I definitely wanted to participate in. And as we gathered together, we had some really frank discussions about race in the United States and in the church, and how we can be, as a church, agents of reconciliation.And so the fruit of this and the hope of where this all goes is for our churches of these pastors to do some things together over the coming year or two. And so the first of these is coming up May 31st, which happens to be the exact same day as the picnic. I did not get to pick this, it just kind of happened this way, which is in part why we are holding the picnic immediately after the service. And Jeff was right. I will be dressed for the part, and I need you to be dressed for the part too. The picnic will be fun. We'll have games. We'll drag stuff out. But then we wanted to give enough time for those of you who would like to attend this service to get home, maybe take a nap, or do whatever you do on your Sunday afternoons. And then at 6 p.m., it's up in Glen Arden, Maryland, we will have the first of these services together. I don't know what to expect, but I do expect that God will move, and I expect the Holy Spirit to be present, and I expect some of our preconceived notions to be challenged. I expect transformation is always beckoning us, and I am deeply hopeful for what might come out of this. So put that on your calendar. This is May 31st, just right around the corner, and it is 6 p.m. that evening.Happy Mother's Day: A Childhood Binder and a Mom Who Saw All of YouToday is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers and the spiritual mothers in the room. I was trying to think of what to say at this point, and what came to mind was a collection of photos that I found from my childhood that my mom had gathered together. It was one of those binders that back in the 1998 time frame when I graduated from high school, that people would put photos into and they'd put words about what was happening at that time. And my mom was way into this. And so she chronicled my whole childhood from zero to 18 and then presented me with this big binder. And now as a father of an 18-year-old, I think about that a little differently.And I think about what it means to be a dad, only because I can't think about what it means to be a mom, because I'm not one. But I know this much on the receiving end of it all. I had a wonderful mom who looked after me in ways that I don't think I'll ever be able to fully appreciate. She saw every last bit of me and who I was, and she was there every step of the way, even if I didn't realize it. And so for all the moms in the room, I am grateful. We are all grateful. And for those of us who have moms who are still alive, may we reach out to them today and give them the thanks that they deserve.Let's begin with some prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray a special prayer of blessing over the mothers in this room today. Lord, the kind of love that you call us into, that agape love, a self-giving kind of love, I can think of no better human example than what mothers do on a day-to-day basis for their children. And so, God, may we all aspire to that. We give you thanks for them, and we give you praise for that kind of love, and may we be drawn into being those kinds of people too. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.The Jesus Way Series: Vanity, the Seven Deadly Sins, and Today's Stop — Anger All right, we are — if you don't know — we are on a road together, a path, right? And this began a few weeks ago. Well, I mean, it kind of began a long time ago, but we're on this transformation kick. But then since Easter, we've been walking in these two ways. And I've been trying to show you that there is this narrow way, right? It's the way that Jesus is drawing us into. It's narrow because fewer people choose it. It's a little hard. There's more friction to it. It requires something of you to be on it. But it is the way to life and to fullness of life and to eternal life. And this is what Jesus is trying to get us to do. But then there is this other way. There's this broad way. It's bigger and wider, and it's much easier to find yourself on it. And it's marked by a number of things. And so two weeks ago, we talked about vanity as one of the markers of this way. And it's easy to just kind of slide into vanity. And then today, we're talking about the broad way again. And I want to talk about anger. And I know it's Mother's Day. So apologies ahead of time for this. I do want you to know there was a toss-up between this and gluttony. And so I put gluttony on Father's Day. So, you know, you can get ready for that too. And I'll say, all of the analogies are aimed at the men in the room today. So all the stories — you know, like I'm looking at guys here — women, you get the day off. So you're welcome. All right, so just clarify a couple things up front. I originally had the name wrath for this sermon, and I was afraid that it might draw up like the wrong image for you. But here's the truth of the matter. The word anger and the word wrath — actually, it's the same thing. The roots of these are the same, like the down deep parts of it. They're just two different words for the same thing. The goal of what I want to accomplish in this sermon today is to really lean into the middle section of this rotten tree that stands before you. We've already touched on vanity, the far left, and we'll get to each of these branches at some point over the weeks here. And then just to remind you, at the base of all of this is your pride and your ego. It's kind of the thing that is the last thing that will die in this earth, right? Because if you could just simply root that part out, then it would take care of the rest. But pride is much trickier than simply just plucking it out like a weed. It has roots that go much deeper than you or I can really frankly imagine. So today we're just focusing on the middle one. We're talking about wrath or anger. And I have thoroughly enjoyed this. Maybe I enjoy it too much. I'm realizing this right now as I said that. I have like a thousand things I want to tell you, and I will only tell you maybe ten of those. And so if you think to yourself, well, Pastor Eric, I wish you had talked about this — I probably could have and maybe should have. But I'm glad that you're leaning in and you're really digging into what you need to know about anger and wrath. Also, it's a pitch to come to Sunday morning Bible study where we do go deeper for a whole hour on this topic. The goal of the sermon is, with the theme of roads and ways and all, to take you on a tour — like a driving tour of your Bible — and the things that it has to say about anger. Think of it this way. We've got a few key destinations I'm trying to get us to. And then as we go to those destinations, there's like bathroom stops I want to point us at, or maybe just a couple things that you should have in your view as we head to these main stops. First Stop — Mark 3:1–6: Jesus Gets Angry in the Synagogue The first stop is the one we read already, which is Mark chapter 3. And so I'd encourage you, please, open your scriptures, open your Bibles to Mark chapter 3 as we dig into what Jesus demonstrates for us about anger. Mark 3:1 to 6. Again, he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, come over here. And then he said to the Pharisees, he said, is it lawful? Does the law permit? Does your Bible tell me that it's okay to do good or harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill it? He's asking them, how do you read your Bible? What's the right thing to do here? But they were silent.And then he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he said, I'm going to teach you how to read your Bible. And I'm going to teach you what it looks like to keep the Sabbath. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. And the Pharisees went out and they immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him how to destroy him.There are two angry parties here. Jesus gets angry and clearly the Pharisees do as well as they seek to destroy him by the end. There are just a few things that I want to point to in this passage that will become important. And the goal as we make these stops on this journey together is to maybe build up a case of the kinds of things we can say about anger based on what we find in our scriptures. The first would be simply that Jesus does get angry. And it's actually okay for you to be angry too sometimes — with a huge caveat around it. Because anger is actually one — it's the only sin on the list of the seven deadly sins — that it's okay to, we'll say, participate in when it's not a sin. The sin looks a whole lot like the not-sin. It's the only one that looks like this. Knowing how to distinguish between the sinful version of anger and the righteous version of anger, it takes wisdom and it takes maturity. I don't recommend it to the littlest ones among us. It's a little bit like holding a knife. Like, you want to teach someone how to do this and to train them well, or they're going to do what? They're going to cut someone, maybe themselves. And anger is much the same way. And we need to learn how to use it in a controlled manner.But Jesus does get angry. And then I'll say this about his anger. If you read closely, what is he angry at? It's actually remarkably precise here in Mark. He's angry at their hardness of heart. He's not precisely angry at them, just generally, as if Pharisees are awful people or something like this. No, he's angry at something specific. The object that he's directing his anger at is their hardness. There's something in them. And he says there's something really wrong with that. And it provokes some anger in him.The other thing I'd say is that his anger is connected to justice, which is what anger is always connected to, by the way. Usually — well, actually both in the righteous form and the unrighteous form. When something's gone wrong in the world, righteous anger says, something's wrong with the world, and I want to fix it. When anger is unrighteous, usually you're saying, something's wrong with my world, and I want to fix that. The last thing I'd say about this passage is maybe the most important of them all, which is that if you really look closely at verse 5 there, it says this: he looked around at them with anger, grieved. Two emotions are sitting together — anger and grief. Anger and grief. How does one have anger and grief sitting side by side? Well, the only way is if you manage to find empathy for the one you are angry with. It's when moms and dads say it — and I promise they mean it, kids — when they say, this is harder for me than for you. Well, they mostly mean it. I feel grief over having to discipline. I feel grief because I want your world to be right. And Jesus here is feeling grief for the Pharisees, saying, I wish your hearts were not so hard. I could teach you a better way. I could teach you a way to life.Thumos and Orge: Two Greek Words for Anger in the New TestamentAll right, let's keep going on our journey here. Actually, let me pause one more minute. This is a good opportunity to introduce two words that appear in our New Testament. Both of them are words for anger, and they are thumos and orge. It's a hard G. We're still talking about the sin of anger here. Thumos and orge.I want you to think about anger as a fire. This is the metaphor for anger often. And fire, much like a knife, is something that can do damage or it can do good. Thumos is the damaging kind. It flames up quickly. It's the road rage. It's somebody getting upset, right? And it's named specifically in Galatians 5:20 and Ephesians 4:31, if you want to look those up. Galatians 5:20 is right next to the fruit of the Spirit. You know the fruit of the Spirit? These are the ones we love to talk about. But there's the fruit of the flesh right before it. And in this fruit of the flesh is thumos. It's that anger that rages up, right? This is what we're trying to avoid.But the one next to it is orge. And orge — sometimes it is unrighteous anger, it's not always righteous — but it is a controlled anger. It has some measure of control around it, as I say, a controlled burn, right? There are times where if there's a fire in your fireplace, that's a great thing, and it's controlled. But if that fire jumps out of your fireplace and is uncontrolled and creeps up the walls, now we've got a different kind of problem. Our goal today is to learn how to keep that fire in the fireplace.Pit Stop — Genesis 4:3–7: Cain's Anger and the Sin Crouching at the Door All right, we'll move on. We need to take a quick pit stop, however, on this journey and look at Genesis chapter 4, verses 3 to 7. This is the famous story of Cain and Abel. You probably know what happens to Abel and then maybe to Cain. Cain murders his brother. But before he does, we read a little bit about how this gets set up.In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. But for Cain and his offering, he did not And so what happens? Well, Cain was very angry, and here we see the burning starts, right? The fire begins to burn. And Cain's face fell, and the Lord said to Cain — the question you should be asking yourself this morning — which is, why are you angry? Why are you angry? When you get angry, why? What is under that for you? It's a very good question. And why has your face fallen? And then he says — God says to him — if you do well, won't you be accepted? And if you do not do well, and here's the key, "sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must master it."And what is the sin here? The sin is anger, and it's burning in him. And he says, you must master it, you must keep this in the fireplace. And if you don't keep this in the fireplace, it's going to destroy everything. We know exactly what happens. The sin that was crouching does what? It leaps out of that fireplace, and Cain kills his brother. And we have the first murder in all of Scripture.Murder is a terrible sin. It's actually not one of the deadly sins, is it? It's not one of the seven. Because underneath murder — and Jesus teaches us this in Matthew 5 — underneath murder sits the thing that's in our heart. We call that anger. Second Stop — Exodus 34:6–9: God Reveals His Nature as Slow to AngerAll right, the next stop on our tour is Exodus chapter 34, verses 6 to 9. I would encourage you, go ahead and pull your Bibles there now. Exodus 34:6–9. This is where Moses is up on the mount, Mount Sinai. He's getting the Ten Commandments. But in this very important scene, God reveals his nature to him. And he tells us, and he reports to us, what kind of God he is.And I'll say God is angry at times. God can have wrath. I do not deny this, and I don't want to even diminish this in any way. But I'd encourage you as we read through this to recognize a very important fact — that even for God, maybe especially for God, who is perfection and the thing that we are trying to strive for — God's wrath and anger flows from his love. Love is the primary, and out of that flows his anger. You might wonder, well, Eric, how in the world does that work? That doesn't seem obvious to me at all. But I would point us back to maybe Mother's Day or the fathers in the room. When you get angry as a parent, like in a good way, a good angry, when you see your child being hurt by somebody and that mama bear rage wells up — why? Because you want to protect your child. An injustice has happened or is about to happen and you want to protect them. God is not dissimilar. He knows what is good for us. He knows when the world is off kilter. He knows when you are off kilter. And he knows that when it is and when you are, that this is destructive to you. And he wants to save you from your destruction. And we call this anger. And it's him maybe punishing or reaching out and trying to fix the situation. And sometimes — and parents know this — the discipline requires something harsh.So it goes like this in verse 6. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed. And this is what the Lord is saying about himself. "The Lord, Yahweh" — and he says it twice, Yahweh, Yahweh — "I am a God who is merciful and gracious, and I'm slow to anger." And there it is, right? I'm not quick to anger. I am slow to anger. I am gracious. I'm merciful. I'm slow to anger. I abound in this. The word here is hesed. It's a steadfast love. It is a love that never quits. It is like a mother's love — like, you can do all kinds of things, but your mom is just going to love you throughout and throughout and throughout. And this is what God is saying of his very self, that he has this kind of hesed love, a steadfast love, of faithfulness. And he keeps steadfast love for thousands. And more than that, he's forgiving. And he forgives all the kinds of words for sin that appear in your Old Testament. Sometimes we call it iniquity, sometimes transgression, and sometimes sin. And he says, I'm willing to forgive all of these things. He then does go into the fact that he is a just God, and there needs to be justice. And so he says he doesn't clear the guilty just by virtue of wiping it away. And he, in fact — and this needs some explanation, and fortunately this is going to have to wait for another day — he visits the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children so that the third and the fourth generation, they sometimes feel the effects of the father's sin. I think you know this to be true just if you look through your family history and you think about your father and his father and his father and the ways in which their failures have a way of creeping through a family line. I think that's what God is teaching us here.And so Moses quickly bows his head toward the earth and he worshiped and he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, oh Lord, please let this God — let you, God, the one who is merciful and slow to anger — that is the God we need in our midst. Because we're a stiff-necked people and we need you to pardon our iniquity."This is a remarkable passage in its historical context. There are lots of gods in the ancient world, if you don't know. There's a group that's praying to a God named Asherah at this point. And that God happens to be really good at fertility matters. Or there's the folks who are crying out to Baal. And Baal is one of these like really fickle gods who may get angry with you and then doesn't. And you never know who you're going to get with Baal. Or if you fast forward in time, you might get the God of Mars, who is the God of war. And that's the God you're going to meet in the pages of history.But this God, Yahweh, is unlike all the other gods. There is no other God named in history, certainly at this point, who describes himself in the ways that our God describes himself. This description literally changes the course of history. Because we should look to our God, to this God, and say to ourselves, thanks be to God that you are the God who is all of these things, and especially the God who is slow to anger.This passage is, again, as I said, one of the most important in all of the Old Testament, and we know this with certainty because — I've just got a couple here, Psalm 30 and Micah 7 — but you could do a Google search later on how many passages from the Bible as a whole, but especially our Old Testament, appeal to and quote from Exodus 34, and you'll be amazed. The Bible repeats this part of the Bible over and over and over again. Psalm 103, Nehemiah 9, Psalm 86, Joel 2 — or the next stop on our journey, Jonah chapter 4.Third Stop — Jonah 4: HOT Anger and Everything Jonah Gets WrongLet's turn there together. Jonah chapter 4. Jonah is a troubled prophet. I would encourage you, whatever you do, do not look to Jonah as an exemplar. He will let you down. Jonah is one of these — actually he's the only prophet who I can really say that about. The whole book is an upside-down prophet. He's not doing what he should be doing, and he's doing what he should not be doing, and we see this ever so clearly in chapter 4 here.We'll read it. For the sake of time, I'm not going to spend nearly as much time in it, but what we see is an angry prophet. Now, prophets are actually often angry. You should know this. The other prophets are too. They're just angry, typically in the righteous kind of way, because again, if justice is the name of the game for anger — the prophets are looking out and they're seeing injustice and unrighteousness everywhere. And they're shouting at their people, you got to fix this. And they're angry with them. And they say, the world's not right, and it should be. And you need to be doing something about it. Jonah is angry as well, much like the prophets. But he is, we'll say, more self-centered than he should be. And so it goes like this. If you don't know the story of Jonah, the lead up to this point is that he has taken his word of disaster to the Ninevites, and he has said, you need to repent. And they said, okay, we will. And they did. And then God relents, and he does not destroy them. And Jonah is not pleased with this. Chapter 4, starting in verse 1: "It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry." There you go. It's just kind of on the face of it. He's displeased. He's angry. What's he angry about? That God was the merciful God. He wanted the war God, the wrath God. He wanted Mars. He wanted Baal. But instead, he got Yahweh. And he prayed to the Lord. And he said, "Oh Yahweh, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish." If you don't know that part of the story, he didn't even want to go to Nineveh at all, and so he fled. And so he says, this is why I left. I didn't want to come here. And then he just says it outright. "I knew you were a gracious God. You were merciful. You are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster." He said, this is why I didn't want to come. I was looking for Mars. I was looking for the God of war. I wanted you to come in and destroy this whole place. And I knew, I knew you wouldn't do it.Jonah's upset. Does he have a righteous anger? Let's all say it together. No. No, he doesn't. He's showing us all the wrong ways. And he goes on: "Therefore now, Lord, please take my life from me." Twice he's going to ask for this — "for it's better for me to die than to live." And then God asks him the same question, or a similar question to the one Cain gets, right? Do you do well to be angry? Again, the question maybe you're being asked right now. Do you do well to be angry? And Jonah went out of the city, and he sits east of the city, makes a booth for himself there. He sat under the shade till he should see what would become of the city. And the Lord God appointed a plant to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to save him from the discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of this plant. But when dawn came the next day, God appoints a worm that attacks the plant and it withers. And when the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that again he might die and said, it is better for me to die than to live. And God asks another time, do you do well to be angry for the plant? And Jonah says, yes. Wrong answer, Jonah. But he says, yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. And the Lord said — and here's the convicting part — he says, you're angry about all the wrong things. Your anger is an unrighteous anger. You're targeting the wrong targets. You are not upset about what I get upset about. Your anger is self-serving. This is what he's saying when he says in verse 10: "You pity the plant for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. But shouldn't I have pity on Nineveh, a great city in which there are more than 120,000 souls? Shouldn't I care about that? Shouldn't I have pity on those people? And shouldn't you too, Jonah?"And then the story ends very abruptly. It's kind of one of these where you feel like maybe there's a missing chapter somewhere and someday we'll uncover it. But for today, this is what we get.Diagnosing Your Anger: The HOT Framework — Wrong Heat, Wrong Object, Wrong TimingThere's a few things from this that I want to kind of put into your cap to maybe help you remember something about anger that will help you diagnose it later on. I'm calling this HOT — H-O-T — hot, Jonah's hot anger. So there's the wrong heat, which is to say the wrong heat level. He gets too angry about the wrong things. His anger is the wrong intensity — he gets so angry about this plant. But he's not angry about the right things with regard to the people. And then the wrong object, right? The wrong object of his anger. So he's angry not about what is just or unjust. He's instead angry at God. He's angry at God's mercy and ultimately at the loss of this plant. He's very interested in this plant. And then lastly, the timing of it all is wrong. He stays angry for too long and it burns for too long. He's still upset about leaving Tarshish. He brings that back up, right? That was sitting somewhere in his heart that he didn't even want to go at all. And so he's mad at God for taking him out of Tarshish and his own land and heading over to Nineveh. And he's holding this grudge.But all of this speaks something to your anger and my anger, which is sometimes our anger is too hot for the situation. And when the kid spills the milk at the table and you blow up — is that the right heat level? No. No, it's not. The object of our anger — maybe you do blow up at the table, Dad. And you get angry with the kid in that moment. But that's not even the object of your anger. You're angry from work earlier that day where your boss said something to you that you didn't like. And now you're upset generally speaking, and then when the kid spills the milk, you yell at him. That is not the object of your anger. Don't take it out on him. Or the timing of it all — maybe you've been holding this grudge for years, and you've just been gathering it over time. This is why we need to forgive, and we need to reduce our resentments. And if we are going to walk this Jesus way, the way that leads to life, it is going to require some wisdom around all three of these things. Final Stop — Matthew 5:21–22: Jesus on Anger, Murder, and What's Sitting in Your HeartAll right, one more stop on the way. This one's Matthew 5:21 and 22. This is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This is perhaps the passage maybe I should have preached from, so I am. "You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry" — and there Jesus is just calling it out for us, even if you've got anger in your heart — "will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire."There's a lot in this passage. A lot can be said, so I'll just keep it simple. If anger is sitting at the root of this and it's sitting in our hearts, there are any number of fruit that can come out of that anger. Sometimes it's murder. I hope that's not the case for any of us. But sometimes it's just calling someone, you fool, you idiot. Or maybe it's just the rolling of your eyes at that person you think is an idiot. Or maybe it's you online. Maybe it's what you're saying in the comment box, right? To say, you don't know what you're talking about. And it's a self-righteous kind of anger. And it sits there and it burns.And here's what I'd say about all this. There is a destruction that is happening. Jesus calls this the way of destruction for a reason. Because you are aiming at God, believe it or not, when your anger is unrighteous. Because you are saying, the world is not as it should be, and I don't trust God to fix it. So I am going to fix it myself. And then the damage you're doing is all around you too. This one's a little more obvious — if you walk through the world and you're an angry person, constantly throwing barbs at other people, you are affecting them. You are changing the climate of the room when you just simply walk into it. But then also, what may be missed is that you — you are destroying yourself from the inside out.And it may actually feel good to be angry. I learned this. I didn't realize. I am a non-confrontational person by nature. I don't like conflict. But I have learned over the years some people love conflict. They actually like the fight. To them, it feels good. It feels like you're alive. But what's happening in that situation, and really any situation where anger is burning within you, is that from the inside out, you are being hollowed out. Three Antidotes to Anger: Soft Answers, Lament, and HopeThere are some antidotes to anger, and I will keep these brief, and three. One, Proverbs 15:1 tells us that a soft answer turns away wrath. Jesus teaches us the gentle way, the gentleness, gentle startups. This is always the first step forward. Anger might come way down the road, right? But you need to be slow to it. Number two, lament. Learn to grieve like Jesus grieves in Mark 3. Learn to grieve even alongside your anger. And I would encourage us mere mortals — unlike Jesus, us mere mortals — we should probably start with grief and allow the anger to follow, because it's going to be a much more trustworthy form of anger if we do. And the last thing is hope. Hope. You see, the angry person, as they rage at God — Jonah, as he rages at God — ultimately is saying, I don't trust you, God. I don't trust your way to be the right way. But we need to be people of hope and people of faith who trust that even though it seems like the world is all cattywampus — and it is, like it's all upside down — we hope and we trust that the God of the universe is fixing all the things. And we play our part. And we live as people who expect the unrighteous to receive their due reward and for the wrongs to be made right again. And that we only have control over ourselves and our hearts. And so we better take control of them, lest that fire jump out of the fireplace and begin to burn the house down all around us. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, you are a passionate God. We are to be passionate people. And some of the angriest among us can show us something about what it means to have passion. But God, it can be dangerous to hold that fire. And so, Lord, we ask for your wisdom. We ask for people who will gather around us and be honest with us about the nature of our anger — whether it's the slow-burning anger that leaps out of the fireplace eventually, or whether it's the kind that just flares up all the time. God, you are teaching us a better way, a narrow way, a way that leads to life. May we walk with you down that. Lord, we pray this in your holy name. Amen.‍ ‍South Run Baptist Church | 8712 Selger Drive, Springfield, VA 22153 | Sunday Worship at 11am Serving Springfield, Burke, West Springfield, Lorton, Alexandria, Fort Belvoir, and Franconia, Virginia. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Let God Take First Place—START YOUR DAY RIGHT | Blessed Daily Effective Prayer To Begin Your Day With God SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

God's Working Behind The Scenes—HE WON'T FAIL YOU | Blessed Daily Effective Morning Prayer To Start The Day With God SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:  Proverbs 1-3, Romans 7 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: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible on this 26th day of May. Join Speaker A, your Bible reading coach, as we dive into Proverbs chapters 1 through 3 and Romans chapter 7. Today's episode explores wisdom, discipline, and the foundation of true knowledge as revealed in Proverbs, then moves into the struggle with sin and the liberation found in Christ in the book of Romans. Alongside scripture readings, Speaker A offers heartfelt prayers and encouragement, reminding us of our union with Christ and the call to bear good fruit in our lives. Whether you're new to daily scripture or a longtime listener, you are invited to journey deeper into God's word and love together. TODAY'S DEVOTION: You died in Christ, and now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. That's what Paul wants us to see, to stake our lives on, in Romans 7. Our old life—bound and weighed down by the law, by sin, by cycles of shame—is finished, crucified with Christ. The new reality is one of union: united with Jesus, drawn into the very life and love of God. We no longer struggle alone, measuring ourselves by what we can or cannot do, or by how perfectly we obey. Instead, we are invited to share in Christ's victory, his resurrection life that now pulses in us by sheer gift. It's not by our striving, nor by our hard-won discipline or careful performance. It is by grace—by the abounding love of God, extended to the world, pulling us into the triune communion. In Christ, we receive the capacity to love, to bring peace and healing, to do good deeds from a new center within us. God's Spirit shapes us, enabling us to become who we were meant to be, and to live as agents of healing in a world aching for restoration. All of this flows from our union with Christ, not from our effort. It's God's gracious gift to you—and to all. So the call today is to go forward in this calm and confident assurance: you are free in Christ, invited to bear fruit that brings blessing. Step into that freedom, rest in that union, and let his resurrected life animate your every word, act, and hope. That's the prayer I am holding for my own soul today, for my family, for my wife, my daughters, my son. And it's the prayer I hold for you: that you would know and live in the truth of your union with Christ. 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  

What God Promised You Will Happen—TRUST HIM ABOVE ALL | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

This Memorial Day weekend, Student Pastor CJ brings a high-energy message challenging us to wake up to the spiritual reality of the world we live in. We often live like we are in peacetime, but a spiritual war is raging all around us.   Drawing from Ephesians 6 and a trip down memory lane to Sunday school "Lord's Army" days, CJ reminds us that God's movement isn't confined to our walls. To be a follower of Christ is to be a soldier in the army of God, and the Church is the vehicle He uses to take ground. In this message on the heels of the Church Unbranded series, we are challenged to stop trading conviction for comfort, step off the bench, and start fighting from victory alongside a community that has our back.  

How do you trust God when you are suffering and cannot make sense of what is happening? Pastor Rich continues the Jesus + Nothing series with a message from Colossians 1-2 on the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory. Paul writes about suffering while he himself is in prison, reminding us that struggle is not evidence that God has forgotten us. In Christ, suffering can become a place where we experience His presence, depend on His strength, reject counterfeits, and focus again on what is real. This message names the ways we often reach for substitutes when we are hurting: control, blame, escape, positive thinking, busyness, and trying harder. But Jesus is not a supplement to add to our lives. He is everything. Speaker: Rich Greene Series: Jesus + Nothing, Week 2 Message: Jesus Is Everything in the Struggle Date: May 24, 2026 Scriptures referenced: John 15:13, Colossians 1:24-29, Colossians 2:1-17 Next steps, prayer, and connection: https://bit.ly/m/lifechurchia Website: https://www.lifechurchnow.org/ Give: https://www.lifechurchnow.org/give

May 24, 2026 It's easy for faith to become something we understand in our heads but rarely experience in our daily lives. Paul's prayer invites believers into something deeper, where knowing God becomes personal and transformative. In Christ we already have full access to God's presence, a living hope for His plan, and the power to change how we live. This is a journey from distant belief to real connection, a call to step into a relationship with God that is active, growing, and alive. About this Sermon Series God has always had a plan. The book of Ephesians reveals the incredible story of God's plan to bring salvation to all people through Jesus Christ and unite them into one family. In this 13-week series, we'll discover what it means to live with purpose as people who have been chosen, redeemed, and called by God. Along the way, we'll explore how the Holy Spirit transforms our everyday relationships—with family, friends, the Church, and the world around us. Ephesians is an invitation to step into God's greater story and live the kind of life we were created for.

What if Jesus has greater things for us? In this message, special guest speaker Phillip Baker explains that greater begins when God reveals who we are In Christ, and we boldly rise to declare who He is in every area of our life! It's time for your Greater season to begin.If you've just made a decision for Christ, please respond here so we can pray for you and encourage you along your journey: https://hpfc.churchcenter.com/people/forms/680887Check out the HISplace Bible Reading plan here: https://hpfc.org/bible-reading-plan/At HISplace Family Church we don't want something from you, we want something for you! By giving you open up an endless fountain of blessings that God wants to pour out to you. To give today click here: https://hpfc.org/give/Stay Connected:Website: https://hpfc.org/HISplace Family Church Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559273825317HISplace Family Church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hisplacefamilychurch/

I. The ministry of prayer prays about our hearts as Christ's home. II. The ministry of prayer prays  about our faith in Christ. III. The ministry of prayer prays about our assurance of the love of God in Christ. 

Paul spent the first several chapters in Romans laying out bedrock truths of Christianity. Now in Roman 6:11, he gives a strong imperative command: Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God. This is not a suggestion, but a “must.” Why is it so important? Because being alive to God is the entire purpose of our dying to sin. As one pastor put it, "The glory of Christian redemption is that it is in union with Jesus that we are given back our true selves. We finally begin becoming who we were truly created to be."Take-Home Message: In Christ, I must consider myself dead to sin and alive to God.In Christ, I will be eternally alive to God (8-9).Realities of the Resurrection:We will never die again.We will have transformed bodies.We will never grieve again.We will be renewed.We will live in renewed creation.We will be with our loved ones who died in Christ.We will be rewarded for every loss endured for Christ.We will never experience war again.We will witness true justice.In Christ, I must be presently alive to God (10-11).

Is God's promise to Himself anchoring your salvation? Hebrews 6 is about anchoring your confidence in God's promise, not your consistency. Andrew Farley reveals why you're not inching closer to God through quiet times, church attendance, or spiritual effort. In Christ, you are already near, already secure, already anchored. Discussion Questions for Hebrews 6-7: Hebrews 6:11 speaks of "the full assurance of hope." Why is assurance so important in the Christian life? How does confidence in Christ produce diligence, while fear and uncertainty often produce burnout? God swore by Himself because "He could swear by no one greater" (6:13). What does it mean that our hope is anchored in God's promise to Himself, not our promise to God? How does that expose the exhausting lie that "it all depends on me"? Hebrews 6:18 says it is "impossible for God to lie." When you doubt your security, forgiveness, or closeness to God, what are you really being tempted to question about Him? How does God's character become the foundation of your confidence? Verse 19 calls this hope "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." What are some false anchors people trust in: performance, feelings, church attendance, spiritual disciplines, personal promises? How is Jesus a better anchor than all of them? Hebrews 6:19–20 says our hope enters "within the veil," where Jesus has gone as our forerunner. What does it mean that Jesus did not merely point toward God's presence but actually brought us in? How does this confront the idea that believers are still distant from God? Melchizedek is called "king of righteousness" and "king of peace" (7:2). How does knowing you've been made right with God produce real peace instead of religious striving? Abraham gave a gift to Melchizedek before the Levitical priesthood even existed (7:6). What does this show about a priesthood greater than the Levitical system? How does Jesus, our forever High Priest, free us from living under an old religious system and invite us into something better?

God Knows What You're Facing—HE'S COMFORTING YOU NOW | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

The Angels were in wonder as Christ our God ascended into Heaven. They were in wonder because, in Him, humanity reentered Paradise for the first time since mankind was banished from Paradise at the fall. Can you imagine it? The Angels behold Christ in human form, enter Paradise, ascend beyond even them, and be seated on the "throne of glory," as St. Leo the Great taught. How far the Word of God went to restore us to our rightful condition and our rightful home. In Christ, we are all kept before the Father for all eternity that we may be saved and with Him, where He is, for all eternity.

What does it really mean to be in Christ?In this powerful teaching series from Central City Assembly, Pastor Kai walks verse-by-verse through the book of Ephesians to help believers understand their true identity in Jesus, the transforming power of the gospel, and how to live with purpose every day.The phrase “in Christ” changes everything. It speaks to who we are, what we've been given, and how we're called to live. In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul reveals the spiritual blessings we have in Christ, the grace that saves us, the unity of the Church, and the practical call to walk in holiness, love, and spiritual strength.Whether you're new to faith, exploring Christianity, or a long-time believer wanting deeper spiritual growth, In Christ will anchor your heart in the gospel and equip you to walk confidently in who Jesus says you are.Reflection Questions:Where have I allowed the world's definition of love to shape my desires, words, relationships, or decisions more than the self-giving love of Christ?What counterfeit love do I need to hold up to the light of Christ this week and honestly name for what it is?Do my actions and words seek the true good of others in a way that glorifies God, or do they reveal places where I am still taking instead of giving?How can I practice thanksgiving this week as a way of fighting the lie that God has not given me enough in Christ?

God Is Ordering Your Steps—JUST TRUST THE PATH | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day With God SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

This episode is the audio version of this enlightening episode of our Growing in Your Spirit Life TV show hosted by Drs. Patty Sadallah and Michelle Kirby.  They discuss the profound truths having Jesus in us, with us and the ability to live IN Christ. When we are born again, we are given the incredible opportunity not only to have Christ with us and in us, but to live in Christ—a transformative experience that changes everything about our daily lives.  This is the heart posture of releasing the love and light of Jesus according to your called purpose.  Dr. Patty leads a profound IN Christ encounter in the Experience Jesus portion and Dr. Michelle shares what Jesus had to say in the program's Jesus' Last Word section.   Links referenced in this episode: New to the Podcast?  Check out the Trailer Episode for the Biblical Foundation for Experiencing Jesus!  https://PattyEJ.Podbean.com/e/trailer-episode-experience-jesus-with-dr-patty-sadallah   The Special Place Encounter Exercise   https://bit.ly/3cEkYBC   Growing in Your Spirit Life TV- Check out all 25 episodes on our Rumble Channel https://rumble.com/c/c-6686477   How to Encounter the HEALING of God:  Experience Jesus Book 2  https://PattySadallah.com/Experience-Jesus/   Check out the NEW Spirit Life Journey App.  Click on the QR Code to play around with it or search Spirit Life Journey in your Google Play or Apple App stores! Get Two-Free Chapters of the Experience Jesus Series Free Gift - Patty Sadallah     Check out all of Dr. Patty's books, journals, and downloadable resources at her bookstore, and don't forget to use the code EJPOD to receive 10% off everything, even the things on sale.  https://PattySadallah.com/shop/   And please make sure you share this podcast and share how you were blessed by this episode by commenting below!  THANKS!    

The Rev. Nick Lannon preaches a sermon on 1 Peter 4 and 5 (in which Peter offers wisdom to sufferers) and John 17 (in which Jesus prays at the Last Supper). You can endure your suffering because God is not absent. In Christ, he is with you, even in pain.

One of the hardest questions people carry is this: “If people really knew me… would they still stay?” Most of us spend our lives trying to prove we're lovable through performance, approval, success, or image. But Galatians 4 reminds us that the gospel does not begin with us becoming lovable enough for God. It begins with God setting His love on us through Jesus. In Christ, we are not merely tolerated. We are adopted.Paul's use of adoption language in Galatians 4 would have shocked the Roman world. Adoption was not sentimental. It was legal, permanent, and identity-changing. An adopted son received the full rights, inheritance, and family name of the father. That means your standing before God is not fragile or probationary. You are not trying to earn your place at the table. Jesus already secured it through His life, death, and resurrection. The cross was not just about forgiveness. It was about belonging.This week, before your phone, email, schedule, or anxiety tells you who you are, begin each day by sitting with Galatians 4:6–7. Slow down long enough to let this truth reshape your heart: “I am no longer a slave, but God's child.” Don't just read it quickly. Pray through it. Repeat it. Let it become the loudest voice in your life this week.Because of Jesus, you do not have to earn God's love or prove your worth. In Christ, you have already been welcomed into the family of God.

God's Not Done With You Yet (GO DEEPER WITH HIM) | Blessed Daily Effective Prayer To Start Your Day With God SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

In Week 5 of our Church Unbranded series, Pastor Matt Piland dives into one of the most famous passages in the entire Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:13-16. Jesus doesn't tell His disciples to try to become salt and light; He makes definitive identity statements: "You ARE the salt of the earth” and You ARE the light of the world." In this challenging message, Pastor Matt confronts our natural impulse to build our own little territorial kingdoms where we try to remain king, inviting us instead to step out into a decaying and dark society to quietly preserve, heal, and reflect the glory of our Heavenly Father.  

In Christ we have a glorious future to look forward to.  Pastor Lloyd Pulley believes keeping an eternal mindset is a key to living victoriously and making it through the suffering we're bound to face.  We join him today in Second Corinthians five.

Romans 1–5 communicates the radical truth that, by faith in Christ's righteousness alone, apart from any works of our own, we have been declared right with God. Paul ends Romans 5 in the clearest terms possible: “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20). Not only is this teaching controversial, it is dangerous. Why? Because some may assert that it leads to rampant sinning. However, Paul answers such misunderstandings. To those who would assert, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Paul responds with the strongest Greek negative available: “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”Take-Home Message: In Christ, I am dead to sin.In Christ, I am dead to the pattern of sin (1–4).In Christ, I am dead to the position of sin (5).In Christ, I am dead to the power of sin (6–7).Take-Home Lessons:In Christ, my pattern is replacing sin's lies with God's Word.In Christ, my position is not sinner but saint.In Christ, my power is God's justification. 

May 17th | Freedom | Galatians 4:1–7In this powerful message from Galatians 4:1–7, Pastor Matt Darby unpacks the life-changing truth of the Gospel: through Jesus Christ, we are no longer slaves — we are sons and daughters of God.The churches in Galatia were struggling to stay rooted in grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone. Like many believers today, they were tempted to add religious performance, morality, and self-effort to the finished work of Jesus. Paul's message calls them — and us — back to freedom.Pastor Matt explores the two spiritual identities every person lives under: slavery or sonship. He reveals how the Gospel doesn't simply improve behavior; it completely transforms identity. Through the adoption made possible by Jesus' death and resurrection, God brings us out of fear, shame, striving, and spiritual bondage into the security of His family.This message dives into:• The reality of spiritual slavery• Why behavior always flows from identity• The power of adoption through Christ• What it means to cry out “Abba, Father”• How the Holy Spirit confirms our identity as children of God• The difference between living for approval and living from acceptanceIf you've ever struggled with insecurity, shame, striving, or feeling like you have to earn God's love, this message is an invitation to walk in the freedom Jesus purchased for you.You are not tolerated by God — you are loved. In Christ, you are no longer a slave, but a son.Do you know JESUS? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nbgilmer.org/do-you-know-jesus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Need PRAYER? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nbgilmer.org/pray⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support through GIVING: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nbbctx.org/giving⁠

The tendency to operate at peak stupidity is a common human experience, especially in relation to God's unfathomable knowledge and wisdom, and scripture confirms this, emphasizing the need for transformation and the avoidance of conformity with the world.^^^^^^^In Christ. In Community. In Lebanon.⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cornerstonelebanon.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube LivestreamThe Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments (66 books) are the unique, divinely inspired, authoritative word of God that came through human agents under God's providence. Its primary purpose is to make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:15), who is the ultimate revelation of Eternal Life that the Scriptures testify about (John 5:39; Luke 24:25-27).

May 17th, 2026 Pastor Chad McDonald I was recently watching a show where a man was hired to clean out homes that are overcrowded. As he was cleaning out the home, he looked for anything that might have value. In this episode, they found photos of Magic Johnson playing basketball when he was in high school. The owner of the home had taken the photos but thought nothing of their value and had stored them under his bed in an old shoe box. The photos were then examined by an expert who determined that they were worth thousands. The homeowner was astounded and realized that he probably should have taken better care of them. He was not living in light of their value. Many people treat God like that homeowner treated those pictures. They acknowledge God. They believe He exists, but they are completely unaffected by His value. They believe in God, but they don’t worship Him. They have never recognized His true value and His true worth. True worship is ascribing to God His ultimate worth and living in accordance with it in such a way that your life is transformed. I pray that you will join us this weekend as we look to Psalm 95 and discover true worship. Remember, weekend worship is a Friday decision. For those of you who like a heads up about which psalm we will be studying next…Psalm 120, 121, 122, 127, 130, and finally 139. Read ahead and prepare your heart for worship. See you this weekend! In Christ, Pastor Chad

What does it really mean to be in Christ?In this powerful teaching series from Central City Assembly, Pastor Kai walks verse-by-verse through the book of Ephesians to help believers understand their true identity in Jesus, the transforming power of the gospel, and how to live with purpose every day.The phrase “in Christ” changes everything. It speaks to who we are, what we've been given, and how we're called to live. In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul reveals the spiritual blessings we have in Christ, the grace that saves us, the unity of the Church, and the practical call to walk in holiness, love, and spiritual strength.Whether you're new to faith, exploring Christianity, or a long-time believer wanting deeper spiritual growth, In Christ will anchor your heart in the gospel and equip you to walk confidently in who Jesus says you are.Reflection Questions:Where have you been living with a renter's mindset in the household of God instead of taking responsibility as someone who belongs?Is there any area where falsehood, unresolved anger, selfishness, rotten speech, or bitterness is damaging trust in your relationships?What has God placed in your hands—your words, gifts, time, resources, or influence—that He may be asking you to use to strengthen the household?Who do you need to treat differently this week because God in Christ has been truthful, patient, generous, gracious, and forgiving toward you?

Who Am I is a three-part series about discovering your true identity through the finished work of Jesus.You are not defined by your past, your failures, your feelings, or your struggles. In Christ, you are made new, joined to Him, raised with Him, and seated in victory.Join us as we learn how to see ourselves the way God sees us and live from the reality of who we are in Christ.

What if Jesus' most demanding words are actually his most life-giving? On Senior Sunday, Pastor Eric unpacks three commands from Matthew 16 — deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me — and makes the case that this isn't a burden to bear but a blueprint for a life worth living. Science, biography, and Scripture all point the same direction: the people who grip their lives the tightest end up with the least, and the ones who give themselves away end up with everything that actually matters. Meaning Over Happiness Dr. Eric J. Gilchrest | May 17, 2026 Check out the weekly sermon here or on our SRBC podcast on Apple Podcast and Spotify. What We're Talking AboutWhat Jesus would actually say in a commencement speech — and why it's harder and better than the usual adviceWhat "deny yourself" means, and the trap of thinking it means killing the passions God planted in youWhy doing hard things isn't punishment — it's the path to the life you actually wantThe hedonic treadmill: what science finally caught up to tell us about pleasure, pain, and why your phone is making you miserableHow to follow Jesus wisely — and why who else you follow matters more than you think Like what you hear? We'd love to know.At South Run, we read every message personally. Whether you have a question, want to share how God is moving in your life, or are thinking about visiting in person, this is the place to start. If you click the link below, Pastor Eric will personally reach out to you. Listening online? Let us know. Sermon Transcript South Run Baptist Church | Springfield, VAPastor Eric GilchrestMatthew 16:24–26May 17, 2026 — Senior SundayThis is a full sermon transcript from South Run Baptist Church in Springfield, Virginia. In this message, Pastor Eric Gilchrest delivers a commencement address to the church's graduating senior class from Matthew 16:24–26. This sermon is part of the ongoing "The Jesus Way" transformation series and addresses three commands Jesus gives his followers — deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me — and what each one means practically for young people stepping into adult life. Opening: A Pastor-Dad Starts to Feel the FeelsGood morning. It's really nice to have the room fuller and to be with all of you who have gathered for this class of seniors. As I was sitting over here, I think I've made a grave error. I thought to myself, I'm going to do something a little different this morning. And Danny, despite what you said, my gift to you all is that this message will be a little shorter today. The grave error, though, is that I don't have notes to read, which I think was going to be fine until I was over here and thinking, this is not the morning to just...Someone was asking me earlier, like, how do you feel about all this? Because I have a senior, in case you don't know. One of my seniors in the room here, one of the 11 — there's 11 of them — is mine. And the question was, how do you feel about that? I said, you know what? I feel fine. I've not had any time to process. I've just kind of been doing the thing. And then as I'm sitting over here, I'm starting to feel the feels. And I'm like, this could go terribly. So my hope is that it doesn't.I'm going to talk to you all this morning, and they can listen, and this message is for you. What Would Jesus Say in a Commencement Speech?As I was thinking about what to talk about, the question popped into my head: if Jesus was asked to give a commencement speech, what would he do, right? What would Jesus do, WWJD? And, you know, if you were at the homeschool commencement yesterday, Dr. Yingling gave a very nice commencement speech. Let's go ahead and practice what he said. He said, you need to remember four things, right? They are — as we're kind of cheated — yes, lead courageously, and then the second was? Yes, accept responsibility. The third was? Reject passivity. Adam, can I just say, you did something right here. Three out of three so far. The fourth is? The most important one. Invest eternally. Yeah.I went home from that, and I thought that was beautiful. And then I opened up the social media, and I saw that there's a musician named Eric Church. He gave a speech yesterday, and he was up there with his guitar, and he had six points, the six strings of the guitar. Each were their own point, and the bottom E string was that you need faith, and you need a belief in God, and this will see you through life. All of these would be great. But this is not how Jesus talks. And so he doesn't usually give us the six points to living the right life. As much as I would wish he did, by the way, I really do. But instead, he often talks in parables and enigmatically. He gives us things like we heard this morning: if you try to save your life, you'll end up losing it. And yet if you lose your life for his sake, you find it, right?And so this morning, I want to give you some of what I think to be Jesus' wisdom. Again, as a dad who's in the middle of my life and have a few years under my belt now, and the thought of sending one of my own out into the world — what would I want to say to you? Like if this was my last chance and I never got to talk to you again, what would I want to say? Before I do, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come this morning and we ask that your word is spoken here. Lord, we believe that you have something to say to these seniors especially, but to everybody in the room. God, we are on a path of some kind — a narrow path, prayerfully, one that leads to life. But some of us on that wider path that leads to destruction. And so Lord, this morning, as we think about the future that sits in front of us, let us choose wisely. Speak clearly. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Matthew 16:24–26: Three Points for a Life Worth LivingI believe with all my heart that Jesus wants each and every one of you to live really full lives. When he promises us abundant life, I think he means it. When he promises us that this path, this narrow path, is one that leads to life, I think he means it. But it's narrow for a reason. And sometimes that narrowness gets so small, it feels like a tightrope, like you might fall off on one side or another.And so with the shorter time that I have, Danny, I want to give you not the six strings of a guitar and not even the four. I'm going to go three. And I think they come straight from Jesus' word to us this morning. I'd ask that each of you open up to Matthew chapter 16. I want to show you what he says.First of all, if we get to the end of the passage from today, which is verse 26, he offers a warning. And the warning is this. He says, what's the profit of a man if he gains the whole world, if he gets to the end of his life, and he has achieved everything. He is the king of it all. He's sitting on top of every throne, and he has all the money, and he has all the fame, and he's got whatever you've wanted in this life, but he has forfeited his soul. What does he profit? And of course, Jesus is saying nothing. And so what he's really talking about here is how do we live a life where we keep our souls intact? How do we live a life of integrity and character? How do we live a life that leads to life and fullness?And I think he does give us a bit of a roadmap here. He gives us, we'll say, three things. Verse 24: "If anyone comes after me, let him" — and here's your three points — "deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." These are the three things. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.Point One: Deny Yourself — What It Means and What It Doesn't MeanWe'll start with the deny yourself piece. For this, I want to tell you what it means and what it does not mean.To deny yourself is to say that the world and human nature is such that the operational mode — like the mode you just start in — is selfishness. It's just how it works. We walk through the world in a way that is, I'm at the center of my own world, right? Wherever I go, there I am. I'm in the frame at all times, and there's no getting around that. And so it requires something of you to think about other people and to prioritize others and to put them ahead of yourself. And so when Jesus is saying to deny yourself, he's saying you need to find a way to love other people well and to think about others — whether it's your moms, and you're supposed to call them when you go off to college, whether it's your friends, whether it's your younger siblings or the people in your life that you meet that need you — you've got to find a way to bend outside of the frame that is our life, the selfish frame, and to think of others.Here's, though, what deny yourself does not mean, and this one is very important to me, and I wanted to make sure I got it in here because I fell into this trap many, many times in my life. What deny yourself does not mean is to deny the passions of your life, the things that you love, the things that make you come alive, the things that God has rooted way deep down in you. God's put those there for a reason. And you don't need to deny those. You might need to train those and to make them proper loves, but you don't need to deny them. In fact, those might be the very gifts that God has given to you, that you are then supposed to give to the world. Point Two: Take Up Your Cross — Doing Hard Things and the Hedonic TreadmillThe second thing that Jesus says is to take up your cross. Take up your cross. I've got two points on this one too.There is the bigger sense of what this means. To take up a cross means to go to your death. It's a very sobering thought. Thankfully, as a preacher, I get to talk about sobering things, and so I want to take this moment to do so. I would encourage each of you to ask yourself in a very sincere way, maybe in a quiet moment: what would I be willing to actually die for? What would I die for in this life? Who would I die for? If you're entering into the military, you might really be asked this question. Your country, your family, your faith — what is it? For whom and for what would you be willing to take up your cross?The second thing, though, is maybe lesser, but also very important, which is to say, Jesus is calling us to a life that costs something, that has some measure of pain to it, that has some measure of devotion. And you can do hard things. This is what I want you to know. You can do hard things. You need to do hard things in life. And there's something about the doing of the hard thing that actually makes you stronger and ready for the next harder thing until you've done that. And then you're at the next hard thing. And pretty soon, you're a whole lot stronger than you thought you were. And picking up your cross means doing the hard thing over and over and over again.Jesus leads his disciples into some pretty hard places, and the Peter we meet in the Gospels and the Peter we meet in the letters of Peter are two very different people. The one is deeply immature. He's probably really young. He might be your age, and he does some really foolish things. But by the time he's at the end of his life and he's the fully mature Peter, he has done some very hard things in life. And if tradition has anything to say, he died a martyr's death just like his Savior did. You can do hard things, and you should do hard things. I've got this whole bit about the hedonic treadmill, and you know what? I'm doing all right on time, so I'm going to say it. It goes like this. There's a way of living that seeks to just do the next pleasurable thing. Whether that thing is sitting on your phone, whether it's chasing some kind of fun thing out there, whether it's doing things you shouldn't be doing — maybe it's things that you think are harmless — but it's a life that seeks those pleasurable dopamine hits, okay?The truth of your brain, and science has finally caught up to faith here, is that this is not sustainable. The hedonic treadmill goes like this. Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure and pleasure and more pleasure and more pleasure. And to do so requires increasing amounts of pleasure, and that becomes unsustainable. And what really happens is you find the pleasure in the momentary hit of the dopamine, whatever that might be for you, and then the baseline of your life, the in-between spaces, gets lower, and then it gets lower again, and then it gets lower again. And this leads to things like depression and anxiety and just a general malaise. The opposite of this is to do hard things. It's why when you work out, if you go to the gym and you push some weights around, in the moment you're doing the hard thing, and then what happens is there's this rush after the fact and you feel better about yourself, and your mind is clearer, and the world just seems like a better place. And it's because by doing the hard thing, you've actually pushed down the opposite way, but then the baseline of it all, the in-between places — it comes up. This is a very important lesson in life, because you can't just chase the pleasure and skip the pain. It's all one bundle together. And by doing the hard things of life, you actually make room for the more pleasurable experiences to even be received as such. A couple weeks ago, I told a story or I had this illustration about a boy mowing the lawn with his dad. If you were here for it, it was awesome. And I forgot my prop again. The boy comes in from mowing the lawn with his dad. He did nothing — he had a plastic mower, if you weren't here for it. But he comes in, and he's sweating too. And the dad's sweating too. And they're both enjoying a glass of lemonade together. And they're both looking at that lawn, and the little boy is like, we did such a great job, dad. And there's something about the hard work of it all that makes that moment of the lemonade worth it completely.Let me offer you two people. One person spends a lot of his life building a business — lots of late nights, lots of early mornings, lots of probably coffee involved, like sweat and no doubt some real tears in building this business and building this life. And then five and 10 and 15 years down the road, that business turns into something awesome. And he becomes a millionaire. And then there's this other person, and this person won the lottery. And they became a millionaire overnight. You tell me — those two people, the one who built the business and the one who won that million dollars overnight, which one appreciates that life that has been built for them? You know the answer, right? It's the one who worked for it. It's the one who put in the hours. It's the one who was doing the hard thing, was receiving some of the pain. But then the pleasure on the backside of it all — this was worth every minute because now this person has built a life. And so part of this is picking up your cross — being willing to do the hard thing. Point Three: Follow Jesus — and Be Careful Who Else You FollowBut I'd be neglectful if we didn't say the third part, which is actually part of the cross bearing, which is the third thing that Jesus says here: to follow him. To follow him. I have two things I want to say about this. One is to follow Jesus is exactly what he's talking. He's not just talking about following some divine source out there. He's talking about Jesus has a way for you. And the message that I've been trying to give to you for the last 18 years of your life is that the Jesus way is a way worth walking. It's a path that you are intended to walk down. And if you walk it well, then it will lead to life. It won't preclude all the hardness that I've talked about. The cross bearing is still real. All of that is still real. But the meaning of life will be abundant at that point.And then the second thing goes along with following. And it, again, is a lesser point here, but it's really important. Because here's the truth. You're going to follow someone in life. You're actually going to follow many people in your life. And I need you to be very careful about who you trust. Who do you entrust yourself to? Who do you entrust your mind to? Walk in a discerning way. Follow discerningly. But you'll follow somebody. So find the right people to trust. I would encourage you to find people with character. People who love you. People who have a certain amount of humility about them. But people who have lived a life that you would want to actually live. That you would be proud of living. Follow those kinds of people. A Word from a Dad Who Got LuckyI've said my three points. And so there's just one more thing to say. I am proud to be your dad. And I'm proud to be your pastor. I don't know how I got this lucky in life. My life has been winding and it's been its own path. But to find myself here in the middle of my life, standing on a stage, getting to talk to 11 amazing seniors who have awesome lives waiting in their future — God has given me an amazing thing. And I want amazing things for each of you. I believe God has amazing things in store for each of you. And I would just encourage you to walk the path with integrity, to keep your souls intact, to follow his ways. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you for these students, these young men and these young women. Lord, they are a gift from you. They are a gift to me. They are a gift to this church. They are a gift to these parents, their families. And Lord, I am looking forward to what you are going to do with these fresh young lives. They very well might change the world. There are 11 of them, just like the 11 disciples who were following you, and they changed the world. And so, Lord, my prayer is that each of these 11, these disciples of Christ, that they walk the way with a steadiness, that they choose you every time. And we ask that you prepare the way for them. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. South Run Baptist Church | 8712 Selger Drive, Springfield, VA 22153 | Sunday Worship at 11am Serving Springfield, Burke, West Springfield, Lorton, Alexandria, Fort Belvoir, and Franconia, Virginia. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

You're About To See God Move (STAY IN POSITION) | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day With God SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin | May 6, 2026 — Does the devil know your name? Acts 19 shows the difference between people who talk about authority and people who actually carry it. In Christ, you don't have to be afraid or intimidated of dark spirits. When you know the authority you've been given, you can stand your ground — and he has to flee. GOT SAVED TODAY? https://lcboise.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/290/responses/new SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY https://lcboise.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/171/responses/new CONNECT WITH US Website: https://www.lcboise.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LifeChurchBoise Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifechurchboise

Feed Your Faith Before The Day Starts (PRAYER + SCRIPTURE) | Blessed Morning To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

https://square.link/u/UHRU92rp - Donate HereToday's reading takes us to Romans 8, one of the most powerful chapters in all of Scripture. It begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation. In Christ, we are no longer crushed under the curse of sin, no longer bound by the law of death, and no longer standing before God in our own weakness. Jesus stepped into our place, took the wrath we deserved, and gave us the righteousness we could never earn.Romans 8 does not just tell us we will survive; it tells us we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Nothing in life, death, suffering, weakness, fear, or all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Read it slowly, read it again, and let it soak into your soul—because if Romans 8 gets in you, you will not live the same.

In Week 4 of our Church Unbranded series, Lead Pastor Jason Britt delivers a special Mother's Day message focusing on one of the most powerful identities we possess: being part of the Family of God. While "family" can be a complicated word for many, the gospel offers a new lineage that isn't based on genetics or willpower, but on the grace of Jesus Christ. To follow Christ is to move from being a stranger to being a child with full legal standing, an inheritance, and a massive group of brothers and sisters.  

Pastors Steve and Jason discuss Psalms of hate and what we should do with them. We pray that Grounded has been a helpful resource for your Christian learning and walk with our Lord. In Christ, the Grounded team

Today You Find Rest For Your Soul (SLOW DOWN WITH GOD) | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

As we open Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus it becomes immediately clear that Paul is overflowing with joy in Christ. The source and origin of this joy is Christ Himself, whom Paul notes as the one who is responsible for our salvation. Take note of how often Paul uses the phrase “In Him” or “In Christ”. He goes on to make clear that it is not our works that bring such blessing and righteousness, but free grace through faith. Having received this gift, Paul then encourages the church to live worthy of God's calling. Though we may often fail, we should make it our aim to grow into maturity, submitting to the order of King Jesus. Ephesians 1 – 1:14 .  Ephesians 2 – 4:46 .  Ephesians 3 – 8:17 .  Ephesians 4 – 12:05 .  Ephesians 5 – 16:40 .  Ephesians 6 – 21:05 .  Proverbs 26:1-12 – 24:52 . :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by Bobby Brown, Katelyn Pridgen, Eric Williamson & the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Send us Fan MailMany people in scripture experienced rejection including Jesus Himself.  Rejection is a reality in life but for many it can be crippling and really divert their lives into a pit.  But there is hope for the one who is rejected.  In Christ we will suffer many things in this world but the promise of Jesus is that He has conquered the world and we, who are serious about Him, will inherit eternal life.  And when that day comes, we will be able to look at our life and marvel at what God did through our suffering.  

God's Closer Than You Think—Let Him Bless You Today | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

There's Enough Grace For Today (RECEIVE WHAT YOU NEED) | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260508dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 The Way Home The apostle Thomas once asked a question that everyone wants to know the answer to: “How do we know the way?” How do we know the way to God, to heaven, to happiness? Jesus did not hand Thomas directions. He handed him, and all of us, himself. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” He is not one option among many. He is the way. That means the path to God does not begin with us. That hurts our pride. We would rather build something of our own. We want the work, recognition, and control. But if the way did depend on us, questions would always remain: Did I do enough? Did I miss something? Did I fail? Thankfully, Jesus removes those questions. He did not stand at the end of the road and point. He marched the way for us. He lived the life we could not live. He died the death we deserved. He rose to life and opened the way to the Father. Then he declares, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is not trying to discourage you. He is giving you certainty. In Christ, you have access to God. Stop searching. Stop striving. Stop relying on your strength. The world is full of confusing voices and competing truths. But Jesus gives us clarity: There is a way to God—his name is Jesus. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for opening the way to the Father. Keep me firmly in you and lead me safely to the eternal home you are preparing. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Enemy Tried It—But God Said _NO_ (YOU'RE PROTECTED) | Blessed Morning Prayer To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™

This New Day Is Proof God's Not Done With You—START STRONG | Blessed Morning To Start Your Day SUBSCRIBE to catch all the latest prayers uploaded to the Daily Effective Prayer Podcast! For more powerful daily prayers and to connect with the ministry visit: https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org © Copyright DailyEffectivePrayer.com  SUPPORT THE MINISTRY: (We are listener-supported)https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/donate/ DO YOU NEED PRAYER? Send us a prayer request right now:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/prayer-request-online/ CONNECT WITH US:https://www.dailyeffectiveprayer.org/connectYouTube (1M+ SUBSCRIBERS)X / TwitterInstagram ThreadsInstagramFacebook Daily Effective Prayer™