Podcasts about kingdom of god

SEPPHORIS AND THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF MARY'S LIFE Colleague James Tabor. Tabor identifies Sepphoris, a Roman capital near Nazareth, as Mary's birthplace. He reimagines Jesus and Joseph as "tektons" (builders) working in this urban center rather than simple carpenters. This proximity meant Mary witnessed Romanbrutality and the city's destruction, influencing her family's spiritual views on the Kingdom of God. NUMBER 1

Gospel  Luke 1:57-66 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” Reflection It's interesting that this transition involved two men, John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah. And when you look at it carefully, you recognize that they were both so important in being able to create a new image of who God is. A God not distant, not in the temple only, but somehow breaking free of that structure and filling people's hearts with love, understanding, compassion. What an amazing transformation and how amazing John was in making sure this happened. He took us through the liminal space of transition that we still are somehow always engaged in, because each person has to go through it. That's the gift to this figure of John. Closing Prayer Father, always we find ourselves as we grow in consciousness, going through thresholds of new insights, new revelations. Bless us in this work of transformation. It is the call of the gospel, is each of us announcing the fullness of the Kingdom of God. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this powerful conversation with Bob Fraser—bestselling author, international speaker, and partner in a private equity firm—we explore three transformative concepts every father needs to understand. First, how do you see people? Your view of mankind shapes everything. Second, what's the real purpose of wealth and finances? It's not what you think. Third, how do you launch your children into their true identity and calling? Bob shares his journey of 41 years of marriage, raising four kids (now with 12 grandkids), and building a family legacy that spans generations. From learning to fly at 62 to writing "Invest Like a Billionaire" with his son Ben, Bob reveals why Earth's greatest days are unfolding now, how the Kingdom of God is steadily advancing, and why your family is here at this exact moment in history. This conversation will challenge your view of success, wealth, fatherhood, and what it means to partner with God in transforming the world.Guest Links:LinkedInWebsite---------Transform Your Body with Ned & RUK Fitness: RUK FitnessThis episode is sponsored by The Adventure of FatherhoodOrder The Adventure of Fatherhood children's book hereCheck out the TEDx----------Want to learn more about The Adventure of Fatherhood?https://www.adventureoffatherhood.com/https://www.rebelandcreate.com/Each week Ned sits down with a dad and asks him to open up his field notes and share with other men who find themselves on the Adventure of Fatherhood. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatherhoodfieldnotesYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FatherhoodfieldnotesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebelandcreate

As we have seen throughout our study of the book of Matthew, the gospel writer frequently writes on multiple levels. In the case of the magi from the east, Matthew is not just looking back to the Hebrew Bible and the fulfillment of God's ancient promises. He is also offering stark commentary on the current realities faced by his readers in the late 1st century. Matthew's readers faced cultural pressure from the all-powerful Roman Empire as well as persecution from wealthy local elites. They undoubtedly wondered, “How will the Church survive in the face of such mighty opposition?” To respond to such pressure, Matthew's depiction of the magi visiting Jesus makes a mockery of Roman propaganda about the Caesars (e.g. Frankincense! Magi from the east! The star!) and hints at the boundless blessings to be had not at the top of the social ladder, but at the foot of the cross. As Jesus himself says later in the gospel, “those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last” (Matthew 20:6). This layer of meaning will offer us a stark reminder this Christmas of those who are truly blessed in the kingdom of God!

The kingdom of God is a reality of existence that has always been present. At first, the kingdom of God existed in perfection. But it didn't take long for the kingdom to be fractured. Today, we have experienced a partial return of the kingdom of God, but we still wait and look for the complete return of God's kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. 

Shelly has served the body of Christ as a Pastor for over 35 years. He is a bible teacher and conference speaker on the subjects of The Kingdom of God, The Mystery of Israel & The Church and for God’s people to be prepared in their hearts for the end of this age. https://shellyandjunevolk.com/Support the show: https://shellyandjunevolk.com/product/partner-with-us-psalm-127-fund/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leftism has diseased our country and all of Western Civilization and the scavengers have come to pick at the corpse. However, we aren't dead yet. We need to scare off the scavengers and fight the disease. Truth is the best antiseptic. ♱The battle that we face is spiritual. Which side are you on? There is only one winner and that is Jesus the Christ. He has already won. The Kingdom of God is at hand and you can partake in it by repenting of your sins and putting your faith in Christ's finished work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Today is the day! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kingsplaining.substack.com/subscribe

The root of our strength is within. The temptations of the world are growing and the pressure to join the migration into the digital cult increases daily. The answers are not found in the world, but in our quiet moments with God... to seek his face and hear his voice. We have to be willing to face our idols, our false worships, the fictions we have built our lives upon... to ultimately tear them down and let God lead in his glory. That place for many provokes fear as we are thrust into the unknown. Fear not. The Kingdom of God calls.  #BardsFM_Morning #TheKingdomAmongstUs #GreaterWorks Bards Nation Health Store: www.bardsnationhealth.com EnviroKlenz Air Purification, promo code BARDS to save 10%: www.enviroklenz.com EMPShield protect your vehicles and home. Promo code BARDS: Click here MYPillow promo code: BARDS >> Go to https://www.mypillow.com/bards and use the promo code BARDS or... Call 1-800-975-2939.  White Oak Pastures Grassfed Meats, Get $20 off any order $150 or more. Promo Code BARDS: www.whiteoakpastures.com/BARDS BardsFM CAP, Celebrating 50 Million Downloads: https://ambitiousfaith.net Morning Intro Music Provided by Brian Kahanek: www.briankahanek.com Windblown Media 20% Discount with promo code BARDS: windblownmedia.com Founders Bible 20% discount code: BARDS >>> TheFoundersBible.com Mission Darkness Faraday Bags and RF Shielding. Promo code BARDS: Click here EMF Solutions to keep your home safe: https://www.emfsol.com/?aff=bards Treadlite Broadforks...best garden tool EVER. Promo code BARDS: TreadliteBroadforks.com No Knot Today Natural Skin Products: NoKnotToday.com Health, Nutrition and Detox Consulting: HealthIsLocal.com Destination Real Food Book on Amazon: click here Images In Bloom Soaps and Things: ImagesInBloom.com Angeline Design: AngelineDesign.com DONATE: Click here Mailing Address: Xpedition Cafe, LLC Attn. Scott Kesterson 591 E Central Ave, #740 Sutherlin, OR  97479

On Today's Episode – Mark is joined by Dr. Eric Wallace, who tells us a little about how he came to be a member of Project 21. He has a new book out (link below). The guys talk all things politics and the relationship between them and the Black Church. Tune in for all the funProject 21 Ambassador Dr. Eric Wallace is the president and co-founder of Freedom's Journal Institute (FJI) for the Study of Faith and Public Policy, an Illinois-based nonprofit organization designed to “advance the Kingdom of God through socio-political, education and engagement.”Wallace is a visionary who couples his rich educational background with a bold approach to challenging the status quo. His post-graduate degrees in Biblical Studies (M.A., ThM, Ph.D.), combined with his passion and powerful message, make him one of today's most powerful voices of Bible-centered reason and change. Eric is the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Union-PSCE (now Union Presbyterian Seminary).Wallace is outspoken about the evils of Critical Race Theory (CRT) — speaking recently about CRT at the For God and Country Biblical Worldview Intensive at World Outreach Center in Newport News, Va., and at a special panel discussion at the Conservative Minority Convention (CMC) in Dallas-Fort Worth. https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Apostasy-Abandoned-Authority-Ideology/dp/0979763185 https://freedomsjournalinstitute.org/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When life feels overwhelming, God invites us to trust Him with what we cannot control.In this powerful Christmas message, “Let God Handle It,” we're reminded that God often works in ways we don't expect—quietly, humbly, and ahead of every battle we face. From a manger in Bethlehem to the unseen spiritual battles behind the Christmas story, Scripture shows us that God is never late, never nervous, and never caught off guard.If you're carrying worry, pressure, or uncertainty, this message will encourage you to release control, trust God's plan, and find peace in knowing He is already at work.Join us Sunday's 8:15 | 10:00 | 11:45 Authentic Church 2416 N Center St Hickory, NC 28601 (Beside Planet Fitness) GIVING To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: https://authenticchurch.com/give GET CONNECTED Ready to check out Authentic Church in person? We can't wait to meet you in person. Simply fill out the form below and we'll make sure to give you the VIP treatment upon your first visit. https://authenticchurch.com/plan-a-visit ABOUT AUTHENTIC CHURCH Authentic Church exists so that people will have an authentic encounter with God, be set free, and grow in Christ. Our mission is to help each person at Authentic believe in Jesus, belong to family, inspire true worship, walk in God's Spirit, and build the kingdom of God.

In this episode of the Revelations Podcast, host Reagan Kramer expresses gratitude for the listeners and reflects on the transformative experiences of the year. The conversation delves into the concept of the Kingdom of God, emphasizing its significance in the lives of believers. Reagan let's the truth of God's Word wash over the listener and highlights God's redemptive plan, the importance of healing, and the power of living in the Spirit. The episode culminates in a prayer for listeners, encouraging them to embrace their identity in Christ and the impact of the Kingdom in their lives.Resources:More from the Revelations Podcast: Website | Instagram | Apple PodcastYour support fuels our mission to share transformative messages of hope and faith. Click here to learn how you can contribute and be part of this growing community!This Episode is brought to you by Advanced Medicine AlternativesGet back to the active life you love through natural & regenerative musculoskeletal healing: https://www.georgekramermd.com/ TakeawaysGod has done amazing things this year.The Kingdom of God is about love, peace, and redemption.Jesus came to bring spiritual healing and restoration.We are sealed in the blood of Christ if we believe in Him.God has a redemptive plan for each of us.Healing is essential for living in the Kingdom.The light of Yeshua shines brightly in us.We are called to spread the good news of salvation.The Kingdom of God is not of this world.Prayer and worship are powerful tools in our faith journey. Chapters00:00 God's Redemptive Plan Throughout History05:10 The Role of Jesus as Redeemer10:20 The Power of Belief and Healing11:00 Scripture Reading26:04 The Kingdom of God in Our Lives  

Today is day 356 and we are studying The Tenth Commandment. 356. How can you keep this commandment? I can keep this commandment by learning contentment: seeking first the kingdom of God, meditating on God's provision in creation and in my life, cultivating gratitude for what I have and simplicity in what I want, and practicing joyful generosity toward others. (Exodus 35:20–29; 36:2–5; Psalms 104; 145:15–21; Ecclesiastes 5:10; 2 Corinthians 9:6–15; 1 Timothy 6:6–10; Hebrews 13:5) We will conclude today by praying Prayer 116.A Litany of Thanksgivings found on page 680 of the Book of Common Prayer (2019). If you would like to buy or download To Be a Christian, head to anglicanchurch.net/catechism. Produced by Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Madison, MS. Original music from Matthew Clark. Daily collects and Psalms are taken from Book of Common Prayer (2019), created by the Anglican Church in North America and published by the Anglican Liturgical Press. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Catechism readings are taken from To Be a Christian - An Anglican Catechism Approved Edition, copyright © 2020 by The Anglican Church in North America by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  The Pastoral Letters #8: “Continuing to explore the prominence of women”   THIS EPISODE   Have you really sat down to appreciate how important women are in the biblical story?  In today's show, Rob and Vinnie continue their discussion of the prominence of women in the Bible and in the early church.     “Something's Not Right” (Wade Mullen)   FOLLOW THE PODCAST Subscribe to be notified of our new episodes (each Monday).  Want to help us expand the Gospel of the Kingdom? Leave a review, “like” the podcast, or share it with others.   CONNECT WITH DETERMINETRUTH MINISTRIES The Determinetruth Podcast is a ministry of Determinetruth Ministries. We offer free resources to equip pastors, leaders, and the body of Christ in the US and worldwide for service in the kingdom of God. You can visit us online at https://www.determinetruth.com   SUPPORT DETERMINETRUTH MINISTRIES Determinetruth is a non-profit 501(c)(3), and relies completely on the financial support of our partners around the world.  Please consider partnering with us and making a tax-deductible donation https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/3648601   Want a FREE CHAPTER from Rob's latest book? Sign up for email updates from Determinetruth.   https://mailchi.mp/5672d33f2b95/dt-podcast   Music: “Love is Against the Grain” (Dime Store Prophets)   #BiblePodcast #TheologyPodcast #ChristianPodcast #BibleStudyPodcast #BiblicalTruth #FaithPodcast #politics #ChristianNationalism #suffering #thechurch #paul #timothy #ecclesiology #Fellowship #Mutual encouragement #Service #Corporateworship #Teaching #theWord #Communion #pastors #missions #women #complementarian #egalitarian #authority   

Seven Ways to Know You're in the Will of God • Sunday Service Website: www.PastorTodd.org To give: www.ToddCoconato.com/give Seven Ways to Know You're in the Will of God (And How You Know When You're Not) Let me tell you something up front: The will of God is not a mystery! Religion paints this picture like God is hiding His will from you, and you've got to stumble around in the dark hoping you trip into it. No! God's will is clear, God's will is knowable, and God's will brings you into blessing and kingdom advancement. If you're not in the will of God, you're wasting time, spinning your wheels, and giving the devil a foothold in your life. But when you're in His will, you don't just survive—you multiply, you advance, and you shake the nations for Christ. 1. Peace in Your Spirit Scripture: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” — Colossians 3:15 (NKJV) 2. Confirmation by the Word of God Scripture: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” — Psalm 119:105 (NKJV) 3. Fruitfulness and Multiplication Scripture: “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” — Matthew 7:16 (NKJV) 4. Open Doors by God's Hand Scripture: “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” — Revelation 3:8 (NKJV) 5. The Witness of the Holy Spirit Scripture: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” — Romans 8:16 (NKJV) 6. Provision in the Assignment Scripture: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:19 (NKJV) 7. Advancing the Kingdom of God Scripture: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) How You Know You're NOT in the Will of God Let me hit this quickly and clearly. The Bible shows us markers of being outside His will: 1. Confusion and unrest. “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” — 1 Corinthians 14:33 (NKJV) 2. Compromise against Scripture. “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you… let him be accursed.” — Galatians 1:8 (NKJV) 3. Lack of fruit. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered.” — John 15:6 (NKJV) 4. Constant striving with no breakthrough. “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV) 5. Ignoring conviction. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” — Ephesians 4:30 (NKJV) 6. Living in lack. “You have sown much, and bring in little… he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” — Haggai 1:6 (NKJV) 7. Self-glory instead of God's glory. “I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another.” — Isaiah 42:8 (NKJV) Conclusion Friend, the will of God is not something you have to stumble into—it's something you step into by faith and obedience. When you're in His will, peace rules your heart, doors open, fruit multiplies, provision flows, and the Kingdom advances. When you're out of it, confusion reigns, doors slam shut, provision dries up, and your life feels like pushing a boulder uphill. Make up your mind tonight: I will live in the center of God's will. I will not be distracted. I will not compromise. I will not settle. Because when you're in His will—you're unstoppable.

Need Clear Vision? See Clearly through Spiritual Eyes!Sometimes we try to look too hard with our natural eyes so we miss what God is trying to show us. We need to learn how to look with spiritual eyes - then you will see things more clearly.Pastor Carina is a Christian life coach, Keynote Speaker, and Mentor who God has uniquely gifted to activate others in the body of Christ. She carries an anointing to stir dormant callings, awaken spiritual gifts, and ignite Kingdom assignments,  empowering believers to step boldly into their God-given identity, walk in divine purpose, and bear lasting fruit for His glory. She's the Founder of Trumpets of Tirzah, an international apostolic center for women that facilitates purpose discovery, Kingdom lifestyle practices, and biblical leadership disciplines so that women can live, and lead, a "new creation" life that reflects Jesus. Her personal coaching, group mentoring, and Tirzah University courses provide keys of radical transformation that launch women into spheres of influence around the world.Tirzah University is the only educational institution in the world that focuses on the Apostolic role of women in the body of Christ while educating, equipping and empowering women to walk confidently in their God-given role. Come study with us: www.TirzahUniversity.com Join the Heavenly Harvest Alliance today! www.trumpetsoftirzah.com/heavenly-harvest-alliance Your support plants seeds and grows the Kingdom of God! We are a 501c3 - www.trumpetsoftirzah.com/donateLuxury anointing oils and anointing lotions: https://www.trumpetsoftirzah.com/category/anointingAnd take a look at how we are sharing the gospel through film:https://www.trumpetsoftirzah.com/mastersmedia******************************************************** Join Us. Awaken Your Purpose. Be Transformed.https://www.trumpetsoftirzah.comDo you want your Christian product advertised on our podcast? Book your ad on Fiver.https://www.fiverr.com/s/NNLl8pN Get your Amplified Bible: https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1223731&item_no=0446538We host in-person and virtual events. Check out our website events page to join in the fun. We are a community of women leaders with creative hearts desiring to follow the examples of Jesus above all else. We are located in the heart of Temecula, CA.Let's connect and journey through life together! We are a mature community of Kingdom believers standing bolding in God's truth and partnering with the Holy Spirit.Shopping for Christian gifts? Here's a link to discounted quality gifts: https://www.christianbook.com/page/gifts?event=AFF&p=1223731Engage daily with us! Instagram https://www.instagram.com/trumpetsoftirzah/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@trumpetsoftirzahLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/trumpetsoftirzah iHeart Radio  ⁠https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-trumpets-of-tirzah-120477377/⁠ Amazon Music. ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c0203ed1-9b85-426a-85f5-5350e82ab730/trumpets-of-tirzah⁠ Apple Podcasts. ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumpets-of-tirzah/id1551900025⁠ Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4DCT4KBVsmzfnqyobR4ZwF Apple Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumpets-of-tirzah/id1551900025YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TrumpetsofTirzahRumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-5936184Clapper: https://clapperapp.com/TrumpetsofTirzah spiritual authority,holy spirit power,spiritual growth,authority in christ,faith over fear,christian motivation,grow your faith,kingdom builders live,kingdom message,apostolic preaching,apostolic faith church,live wednesday,christian live stream,digital discipleship,digital disciple ministries,bible study,faith,jesus,prayer,sermon,trust god,christian virtual fellowship,faith journey,holy spirit understanding,glory of love,believe in miracles,inspire, Disciple makers podcast,Female Christian speakers YouTube, kingdom faith coach, grow your faith today

Shelly has served the body of Christ as a Pastor for over 35 years. He is a bible teacher and conference speaker on the subjects of The Kingdom of God, The Mystery of Israel & The Church and for God’s people to be prepared in their hearts for the end of this age. https://shellyandjunevolk.com/Support the show: https://shellyandjunevolk.com/product/partner-with-us-psalm-127-fund/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do we give the King of Kings?  What could we possibly give to the One who owns everything?  He created all things, and all things are under His feet.  Join Kim in this podcast of Woman of the Well Ministries as she takes us on a journey through the Scriptures revealing what God wants from all mankind.  Come with us as we explore the gifts we may choose to give to Jesus.   Scriptures Mentioned in this Episode 1 Peter 1:3–4 – A living hope and incorruptible inheritance. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+1%3A3-4&version=KJV Matthew 2:1–11 – The visit of the wise men and their gifts to Jesus. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+2%3A1-11&version=KJV Micah 6:8 – What does the Lord require of you? www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah+6%3A8&version=KJV Ephesians 5:15–16 – Walk circumspectly and redeem the time. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A15-16&version=KJV Matthew 6:33 – Seek first the kingdom of God. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A33&version=KJV 2 Timothy 2:15 – Study to show yourself approved. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A15&version=KJV John 1:14 – The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A14&version=KJV James 1:17 – Every good and perfect gift is from above. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A17&version=KJV 1 Corinthians 6:20 – Glorify God in your body and spirit. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A20&version=KJV Luke 12:32–34 – Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A32-34&version=KJV Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Fear God and keep His commandments. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+12%3A13&version=KJV Romans 12:1–2 – Present your bodies a living sacrifice. www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12%3A1-2&version=KJV Did you enjoy this podcast? Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can listen to us on all major podcasting platforms like Apple Podcasts,  Spotify,  Google Podcasts,  YouTube, and Podbean. Check out Kim's latest Bible Bit book on Amazon! Do you want to bring Kim Miller to your church, upcoming retreat, or conference? Contact us! This podcast is brought to you by Woman at the Well Ministries and is supported by our faithful listeners. To support this podcast, please visit our support page. 

In this holiday service, we celebrate Christmas at The House by blessing families with what they need and what God knows will help steward the destiny He has placed inside them! Then, Touré Roberts brings an enduring message from Luke 1:31-38 and Luke 17:21 about the empire within you. The kingdom of God isn't something you watch for. It's already within you, and there are three keys to unlocking this empire: what it is, how to own it, and what to do with it. Just like Mary, we don't produce the kingdom; we receive it. Heaven speaks before it forms, and God is speaking divine things over your life right now. Don't despise small beginnings. When you shift from looking to man to glorifying the Lord, you step into your royal consciousness as His maidservant. The King is in you. It's time to receive the empire within. Message: “The Empire Within You” Scripture: Luke 1:31-38 (NKJV) Speaker: Touré Roberts Date: Dec. 21, 2025 ✨ Welcome to Your Moment of Transformation You don't have to walk this journey alone. Let Jesus guide your steps and fill your life with purpose and peace.

In this holiday service, we celebrate Christmas at The House by blessing families with what they need and what God knows will help steward the destiny He has placed inside them! Then, Touré Roberts brings an enduring message from Luke 1:31-38 and Luke 17:21 about the empire within you. The kingdom of God isn't something you watch for. It's already within you, and there are three keys to unlocking this empire: what it is, how to own it, and what to do with it. Just like Mary, we don't produce the kingdom; we receive it. Heaven speaks before it forms, and God is speaking divine things over your life right now. Don't despise small beginnings. When you shift from looking to man to glorifying the Lord, you step into your royal consciousness as His maidservant. The King is in you. It's time to receive the empire within. Message: “The Empire Within You” Scripture: Luke 1:31-38 (NKJV) Speaker: Touré Roberts Date: Dec. 21, 2025 ✨ Welcome to Your Moment of Transformation You don't have to walk this journey alone. Let Jesus guide your steps and fill your life with purpose and peace.

In this message, Justice and Operations Director Hannah Martha Cohen Banks leads us in discovering Jesus' identity as the light to the nations. Using the prophecies of Isaiah, the story of Hanukkah, and Jesus' own self-declarations in John, she asserts that Jesus is the light that shines forever and through Jesus all are invited into the Kingdom of God.

Overcomer Covenant Church exists to advance the Kingdom of God, locally and globally, by preaching the Gospel, partnering with other ministries, and planting churches. To support Overcomer and help us continue to reach people all around the world, click here: https://overcomercc.org/give If you've just made a decision for Christ, click the link today - https://overcomercc.org/saved If this is your first time joining us, click the link today - https://overcomercc.org/newhere —— Stay Connected! Website: https://overcomercc.org YouTube: https://youtube.com/@overcomercc Instagram: https://instagram.com/overcomercc Facebook: https://facebook.com/overcomercc

St. Matthew 1:1-25 Why was the Son of God commanded to be named Jesus—the New Joshua? In this Advent reflection, Fr. Anthony shows how Christ fulfills Israel's story by conquering sin and death, and calls us to repentance so that we may enter the victory He has already won. --- Homily on the Name of Jesus Sunday before the Nativity In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. "They named Him Jesus, because He would deliver His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) Names matter in Scripture. They are never accidental. A name reveals identity, vocation, and mission. And so when the angel commands that the Child be named Jesus, we are being told something essential about who He is and what He has come to do. The name Jesus is simply the Greek form of Joshua. And that is not incidental. So we should ask: Who was Joshua? And why did the angel of the Lord insist on that name? Joshua was the successor of Moses, the one chosen by God to lead His people when Moses could not. Long before Joshua's time, God had made a covenant with His people and promised them a land—a place of rest, inheritance, and blessing. But that promise had been obscured by centuries of slavery in Egypt, under pagan gods who claimed power but offered only bondage. God sent Moses to remind the people who they truly were: not slaves, but God's own people. Through signs and wonders, God revealed His power over Pharaoh and over the false gods of Egypt. The people were delivered. They were free. They were heading toward the Promised Land. And yet, because of their disobedience and unbelief, that generation—including Moses himself—was not worthy to enter the land. And so God appointed Joshua to do what Moses could not: to lead the next generation into the inheritance God had promised. Joshua defeated the enemies of God—not by his own strength, but by God's supernatural power—and led the people into the Promised Land. All of this matters, because it prepares us to understand the name of Jesus and the mission it announces. "They named Him Jesus, because He would deliver His people from their sins." Now consider the situation at the time of Christ's birth. In many ways, it looked very much like the time of Pharaoh. God's people were again under foreign rule, again surrounded by pagan power, again longing for deliverance. The prophets had promised a Messiah, and the people waited for one who would set them free. But here is the crucial difference: this Joshua would not come to conquer territory.  This Joshua would come to conquer the true enemy. Not Rome. Not armies. Not borders. But sin itself. In his homily on this Gospel reading, St. John Chrysostom says: "He did not say, 'He shall save His people from their enemies,' but 'from their sins,' showing that this is a greater and more fearful tyranny than any foreign power." (Homily on Matthew 2) And this is precisely why the Son of God had to be born as a child. In his homily on the Nativity, which, Lord willing, you will hear on Thursday, Chrysostom draws the connection between the Nativity and our salvation with striking clarity: "He became Son of Man, that He might make us sons of God. He took what was ours, that He might give us what was His." (Homily on the Nativity) Jesus is the New Joshua—not leading one people into one land, but opening the Kingdom of God to all who would receive Him. He conquers not by the sword, but by the Cross. He defeats not nations, but death itself. And we know how He did it. By obedience where Adam fell. By humility where pride ruled. By offering Himself fully to the Father, even unto death. As the Fathers remind us, the victory was not loud or coercive, but hidden and faithful—won through righteousness rather than force. So what, then, is our situation? It is tempting to compare our world to Egypt, or to the time of pagan occupation, and to imagine that we are still waiting for deliverance. After all, many of us know what it is like to feel tired, burdened, or trapped in patterns we cannot seem to break, even while outwardly everything appears fine. We live in a culture that constantly distracts us, that teaches us to manage our desires rather than heal them, and that quietly encourages us to accept forms of bondage as normal. Like God's people of old, we forget who we are and whom we belong to, and so we begin to live as though freedom were still far away. But the truth is far more sobering—and far more hopeful. We are not waiting for the Messiah. He has already come. If we live as slaves, it is not because Pharaoh rules us. It is because we have refused the Deliverer. Christ has already opened the doors of freedom. Advent is the season in which the Church calls us to turn back, to repent, and to remember who we are—so that we may step again into the life He has already given us. Christ lives within the heart of every believer. He comes into the midst of all who gather in His name. He is present here, now, in the Holy Liturgy—offering the same grace, the same power, the same deliverance. He delivers us from the death of sin and leads us into the true Promised Land: the life of the Kingdom, the inheritance of the saints, communion with God Himself. So let us give thanks for the Deliverer—Jesus, the New Joshua. Let us praise Him, trust Him, repent, and return to Him, so that we may join Him in His victory. And let us receive His supernatural grace and power here and now, as we prepare to welcome Him anew at His Nativity. [For in the end, all of us must decide: Am I a sinner – of whatever type; a fornicator, a gossip, a glutton, a miser, a coward, a bully – (are we a sinner) who occasionally does Christian things but repents and reverts to my chosen sinful form. -OR- Am I a Christian who occasionally falls into sin, repents, and reverts to his chosen path of holiness? If we truly are sinners who only play at being Christians - if we only play at being holy – then when the Lord comes looking for a place to be born and dwell, there will be no room in the worldly varmint-infested inn our heart for him to lay and He will leave us to wallow and drown in the bondage of our sin. -BUT- If we are Christians who fall into sin but truly repent, the cave of our hearts is swept clean and He will be pleased to be born in our hearts and His glory will shine within and even from us. Christ has come into the world to deliver us – how have we responded?] To Him be glory, together with His Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.  

SummaryIn this episode of the Text-Driven Podcast, Timothy Pigg and Carter Jurkovich discuss the impact of the digital church on the gospel and ministry. They explore the concept of commodification, where the gospel is treated as a common product rather than a sacred message. The conversation delves into the dangers of diluting the gospel to attract viewers and the importance of measuring ministry impact beyond mere likes and views. They encourage pastors to seek biblical examples in their practices and to focus on building faithful ministries that produce genuine fruit for the kingdom of God.TakeawaysThe digital church has commodified the gospel, making it common.Evangelism disconnected from the local church is ineffective.The gospel's dilution leads to a focus on self-improvement rather than sin.Measuring ministry success by likes and views is misleading.Genuine conversions require follow-up and community.The local church is essential for discipleship and growth.Pastors should seek biblical precedence for their ministry practices.The gospel should not be treated like a product on a shelf.Faithfulness in ministry is more important than popularity.Real fruit for the kingdom comes from faithful ministry.Sound bites"The gospel has become common like ketchup.""Jesus does not gauge success on likes.""Turn off your live stream on Sunday."Chapters00:00 Introduction to Text-Driven Podcast01:48 New Resources for Living Wisely02:48 The Digital Church and Its Impact03:40 Understanding Commodification of the Gospel06:46 The Commonness of the Gospel in Digital Spaces09:41 The Danger of a Diluted Gospel12:44 Measuring Ministry Impact in the Digital Age17:12 Encouragement for Pastors and Ministry LeadersText-Driven Resources LinksTEXT-DRIVEN WOMENApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/text-driven-women/id1638626764Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/39bprfuuuoBdiu3qpbNbSSTEXT-DRIVEN PODCASTApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/text-driven-podcast/id1558036179Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58S8Z1wSnubt8AVFkH3e1kTEXT-DRIVEN BIBLE STUDIESThe Book of Philippians (Text-Driven Bible Study) (Text-Driven Bible Studies) https://a.co/d/1oypSB7Foundations: Genesis 1-11: Text-Driven Bible Study (Text-Driven Bible Studies) https://a.co/d/b77kWZAThe Book of Titus: Text-Driven Bible Study (Text-Driven Bible Studies) https://a.co/d/4RAQaalThe Seven Churches of Revelation: Revelation 1-5 (January 2026)CHURCH/FAMILY RESOURCESThe Local Church Matters https://a.co/d/5HNqbiQThe Seven Characteristics of a Text-Driven Woman (April 2026)Text-Driven Evangelism (January 2026)DEVOTIONALKnowing Jesus at Christmas: A 25-Day Devotional through the Gospel of Luke https://a.co/d/6YMm0a9Text-Driven Wisdom: A 31-Day Devotional through Proverbs https://a.co/d/17UC6jt

Introduction: I Want to Belong to Jesus… (John 1:4–13) Because He gives me an UNBEATABLE HOPE. (John 1:4–5) Because He gives me a MEANINGFUL MISSION. (John 1:6–8) Isaiah 40:3 – A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” John 3:30 – He must increase, but I must decrease. Because He gives me a SPOT IN HIS FAMILY THAT I CANNOT EARN. (John 1:9–13) John 3:19–20 – And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Small Group DiscussionRead John 1:4-13What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Who or what do you often set your hopes on? Why can't these people and things satisfy you as Jesus can?What excuses are holding you back from bearing witness to the light? How will you bear witness to the light this week and next?How does Jesus give us the right to become children of God? Why can't this right be deserved or earned?BreakoutPray for one another. AUDIO TRANSCRIPT Well, as you turn to John chapter one, I want to ask you the same exact question that youjust heard in the video.I want to ask you a question that Pastor Jeff brought to your attention last week in hismessage.It's probably a question that you're tired of hearing and asking this holiday season.What do you want for Christmas?With Christmas being so close, you have asked and heard the answer to that question manytimes over the past several weeks.The questions you've, the answers you've heard and the answers you've given include an O'Wallahwater bottle.Isn't that popular?That's still popular.I don't really know.A red light therapy mask.Anybody want that?That's popular on Instagram, isn't it?A massive Lego set, a Nintendo switch to new AirPods, a smart ring, which I guess is kindof like an Apple Watch, but a ring on your finger.I don't really know.Or fancy golf clubs.But there are many things that you want for Christmas that you cannot write down on a wishlist.There are many things you want for Christmas that cannot be bought or wrapped.Maybe you want that big promotion.Maybe you want that bonus this year that you aren't sure is coming.Maybe you want healing in your own body or in the body of a loved one.Or here's a big one.Maybe you want to feel like you belong.You want to not be rejected.That is a desire that every single person in this room shares.It's a desire that starts when you're young and it continues on for the rest of your life.As a kid and then a teenager, every single one of us was desperate to fit in and havea group of friends to belong to.Rejection is painful.It leaves lasting memories, especially when you're a kid.You know, growing up, my friends and I used to have a sleepover almost every single Fridaynight.And during 11th grade, there was a month-long stretch where there was no sleepovers.And I was really confused.I didn't know why this routine had been broken.So one day at the lunch table, I said to my friends, "Hey, guys, we haven't had a sleepoverin a while.Do you guys want to come to my house this Sunday?"And whenever I said that, everyone at the table erupted in uncontrollable laughter.And I was, again, just very, very confused.After they were all done and calmed down, I said, "What's so funny?"They then proceeded to tell me that they thought it would be hilarious to not invite me tosleepovers for a while to see how long it would take me to notice and say something.I missed a whole month of sleepovers with my friends.And to be honest, in that moment, externally, I tried to laugh it off.I tried to act like it wasn't a big deal.But internally, I felt rejected.I felt like I didn't belong.You ever felt that way before?A friend stopped talking to you.A family member cut off communication for seemingly no reason.A boyfriend or girlfriend ended the relationship without warning.Your spouse chose to give up on the marriage and leave.You have felt rejected before.You have felt like you don't belong.You feel that way right now?Maybe you couldn't care less about what gifts you're going to get under the Christmas treethis year.Maybe you don't want anything from Amazon or the mall.More than anything this year, you just want to experience that sense of belonging.You want to know that there are people who love you, who care about you, and will neverlet go of you no matter what you do.I can't guarantee you that sense of belonging with your family and with your friends thisChristmas.I wish I could, but I can't.But I can guarantee there is someone infinitely greater who will give you that sense of belonging.I can guarantee there is someone who will not reject you, who will not turn away fromyou if you truly turn to him.That person is Jesus Christ.There is no one better to belong to.There is no one better to be loved by.There is no one with a tighter grip in all of existence than him.I want you to walk out of this service this morning if you're a believer with a greatersense of confidence that you were loved by Jesus Christ.That you are safe and secure in his steady hands.There is no better gift than that.And if you're not a Christian this morning, I want you to know that the invitation hasbeen extended to belong to Christ.He commands you to follow him.He invites you to enjoy his acceptance and not fear others' rejection.More than anything, I want all of you in this room to want to belong to Jesus this Christmas.So before we continue any further, let's go to the Lord and ask for His help.Please pray for me that I will faithfully represent God's Word and I will pray for youthat you will faithfully receive it.Father, we come to you and we bring all of our pain to you.All of our fears are all of our deepest, darkest worries that we're afraid to admit to otherpeople.Lord in this room, I'm sure there's many, many stories of rejection.Many, many stories of feeling like we don't belong and I'm sure if we brought everybodyup on stage to share how they feel that there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house today.Lord, we ask that you bring the comfort that only you can.That you would challenge us, you would tear us down so that you can build us back up again.Lord, I do ask for myself, Lord, your Word is perfect, but I am not.I do not feel up to the task of proclaiming such a glorious passage, but Lord, give meyour strength, give me your wisdom.I pray for everyone in this room that you would give them the faith to receive your Wordtoday.I pray that you would seek and save the lost.Thanks for the rest of us, Lord.We would walk out of this room with a greater sense of confidence in who we belong to.We ask all this in Jesus' mighty name.Amen.Was a quick refresher.Let's reread the verses that Pastor Jeff covered last week.This will set the table and help us to understand the context of our passage this morning.So John chapter one, verses one through three.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was in the beginning with God.All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.These verses are all about who Jesus is.He is the Word of God who created all things.Without Jesus, this universe would not exist.This world would not exist.You would not exist.Jesus is the source and sustainer of everything that you can see and everything that you cannotsee.Jesus isn't just the Word of God.John says that He is God Himself.Verses one through three focus on who Jesus is, while verses four through thirteen focuson what Jesus gives.If you properly understand who Jesus is and what Jesus gives, you will want to belongto Him.You will want to belong to Him because no one can compare to who Jesus is, and nothingcan compare to what Jesus gives.So outline for this morning, I want to belong to Jesus.I want to belong to Jesus, first reason, because He gives me an unbeatable hope.Because He gives me an unbeatable hope.Let's read chapter one, verse four.In Him, in Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men.Life was and is found in Jesus and Him alone.As we already discussed, Jesus made all things.He is the source of all life on earth.He is the cause of everything.But He's not just the cause of physical life.He is the only supplier of eternal life as well.There is no other viable option to turn to or to search for besides Jesus.But that doesn't stop us from trying, does it?Millions have tried, and billions have failed in trying to find true life apart from Jesus.And you and I have tried our hand at this pointless search as well.Trying to find life in our jobs, in our finances, in our status, our stuff, and even our families.Life cannot be found in your job.You realize that one day you will have to retire.You may let go from that job.One day that job will belong to someone else.Your life is not found in how much money you have.Let me ask you a question.How much of the money in your various accounts will you be able to take with you when youdie?Do we not know the answer?Not a single dime.Life is not found in your status and popularity.There will always be someone bigger and better than you.In 150 or 200 years, how many people on this planet will be thinking about you?The most likely answer is not a single soul.Life is not even found in your family.As great as your spouse, your kids, your relatives might be, they cannot meet the deepest needsof your soul.Can your spouse forgive you of your sins?Can your kids give you that unbeatable hope that you're looking for?No.Can your family guarantee your eternity?No.All of those needs can only be met by Jesus Christ, who is the only source of life.And John goes on to say that this life was the light of men.That sounds pretty cool, right?But what does that actually mean?The life was the light of men.I'm no scientist, but let me give you a quick pop quiz in astronomy.What do all the plants in this solar system orbit around?You're all really tired this morning.What is it again?All right, very, very good.Could we survive without the sun?What does the sun do for us?Is the major source of life because it is the major source of light and heat on thisplanet without the sun shining as it does, we would all freeze to death without the sunshining as it does.We would not be able to see anything.We would be lost in the darkness without the light of Christ shining as it does.We would not be able to see and understand the truth without the light of Christ shiningas it does.We would not know how to be saved.We would not know how to have a relationship, a friendship with God without the light ofChrist shining as it does.We would be hopeless and lost in the darkness of our sin without the light of Christ shiningas it does.None of us would have any spiritual life.Who is the light of the sun offered to?The 8.3 billion people on this planet.Who is the light of the sun of God offered to?Same exact answer, the 8.3 billion people on this planet.As we'll see in a few minutes, many choose to hide from this light and by doing so, theymiss out on the life that he offers.But that does not stop Jesus from shining his light, which we see in verse 5.Read that with me."The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."The word "overcome" in this verse can also be translated as "comprehended" or "understood."And many scholars believe that John picked this word for a very specific reason.He chose this word because it has a double meaning.Each of these words makes sense in context or flip sides of one another.Let's cover one side of the coin first.Let's cover the light, shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.I walk my dog Murdoch almost every single night at 10 p.m. after the family is asleep.And my wife hates this plan because she thinks I'm going to get pan-kicked by a car.It hasn't happened yet, so please just pray for me that this trend continues and I'm ableto be safe.But there is this one house in my neighborhood that fascinates me.This house has a lamppost in the front yard that shines brightly for about 10 to 20 seconds,then it just shuts off.And it comes back on a few seconds later and it happens every single night for the pastyear.And this may sound strange to you, but I think about that lamppost almost every single day.Every single time I exit the house to go take Murdoch on this walk, I wonder, is tonightgoing to be the night when that light is extinguished?Is tonight the night when darkness will overcome that person's yard?Because there's something wrong with that lamppost.There's something wrong with the bulb.There's something wrong with the wiring.It's just a matter of time.I don't have much faith in that lamppost.I don't think you would have much faith in that lamppost if you took a field trip tomy neighborhood and drove past it.But do you know who you should have total and complete faith in?Do you know whose light you should never wonder or worry about being extinguished?Jesus Christ.The light of His glory never flickers.The light of His gracious love never turns off.He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.No matter how dark this world gets, no matter how bleak your life looks, Jesus Christ isshining just as brightly as He always has.Sin, injustice, and evil cannot lower the intensity of who He is and what He has done.Nothing and no one can turn the dimmer switch down on the light of the world.Let's flip over to the other side of the coin.The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it.You know, Satan and his demons are crafty.I'll give them that.They are intelligent.But at the same time, these evil forces are complete morons in comparison to the all-knowingall-wise God of the universe.The devil and his demons are fighting a losing battle because they cannot figure out a wayto extinguish the light of Christ.They're like a bunch of roided-up bodybuilders trying to push over a mountain with theirbare hands.It's just not going to happen.Their attempts to snuff out the light only fan it into flame even more.The harder they try, the harder they fail.No matter what they do, Jesus keeps forgiving more and more people.No matter what they try, the church keeps getting built up.No matter what scheme they hatch, the kingdom of God keeps advancing.Satan and his workers have already been defeated by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.They know that eternal judgment awaits them.Are they going to go quietly without a fight until Jesus returns?No, they are kicking and screaming like bratty children.And I know that they're kicking and screaming causes a lot of pain and hardship to everysingle person in this room.But they cannot change the ending that God has already written.The light will win because the darkness cannot overcome it or understand it.That is certain.That is a fact.Maybe you've been a believer for months, for years, and maybe even for decades.And you know the truths of verses four and five intellectually.You have a very hard time believing these truths emotionally and experientially.You're in a tough season right now and you feel like the darkness is winning.You feel like the light is losing.You feel like the darkness understands how to overcome the light just fine.You feel like you cannot have victory over that sin pattern in your life.You feel like there is more sin in you than there is mercy in Christ.You feel helpless.You feel hopeless.If that's how you feel right now, my heart goes out to you because I've been there before.And I'm sure I'll be there again.If that's how you feel, I want to challenge you to stop looking at you.Stop looking at your circumstances.Fix your eyes on Jesus.Focus your attention on what He has given to you.Root your confidence in the new and everlasting life that has been given to you.Ask the Holy Spirit to re-energize you with the light you see when you open up the pagesof this book during your daily quiet time.You understand your hope is not found in you.You understand that your hope is not even found in your circumstances changing.Your hope is found in belonging to Christ.When you belong to Christ, you are given an unbeatable hope from an unbeatable Savior.I want to belong to Jesus because He gives me an unbeatable hope.I want to belong to Jesus because He gives me a meaningful mission.That's the second reason on your outline, because He gives me a meaningful mission.In verses 4 through 5, John talks about the message of the light.In verses 6 through 8, John talks about the messenger of the light.Let's read these verses together.There is a man sent from God whose name was John.He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him.He was not the light that came to bear witness about the light.To be clear, John is referencing a totally different John here.It's kind of confusing.What John is he talking about?John the Baptist.Why couldn't they have had a different name?Why couldn't it have been like Bill the Baptist or Baron the Baptist or whatever?Why did it have to be John?Well, don't worry.We'll make it work.We'll deal with it.John the Baptist was sent by God as a messenger to prepare the way for the promised Messiahand Savior who was prophesied about all throughout the Old Testament.John was prophesied of in the Old Testament as well.Isaiah 40 verse 3, "A voice cries in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord,make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'Malachi 3, 1, 'Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.'"John the Baptist came to roll out the red carpet for the coming king.He didn't come so that others would believe in him and believe in his greatness.He came so that others might believe in Christ through him.John the Baptist's followers once came to him to give him the news that a lot of peoplewere following Jesus.He was getting more popular and his disciples were even baptizing people, which is kindof like John's main thing.It's his name, right?John the Baptist.Like, John, don't you realize that all this is happening?Jesus is getting more popular than you.Is this frustrate John?Was he jealous?Not at all.He was actually really, really excited because he was successfully carrying out the meaningfulmission that God had entrusted to him.Here's the response he gives his disciples.He says, "He, Jesus, must increase, but I must decrease."That was the slogan of John's life in ministry.That should be the slogan of your life in ministry as well.He must increase, but I must decrease.You realize you're not the point of anything.Jesus is.John the Baptist wasn't the point of anything either.Jesus was.His mission was to point everyone to Christ, to bear witness to his light.I know what some of you serious students of the Bible may be thinking right now.You're internally objecting a bit.Hold on a minute, Pastor Taylor.You're saying that Jesus is the light and John the Baptist wasn't.But later on in this gospel, didn't Jesus say that John was like a lamp that was shining?And doesn't Jesus tell us that all Christians are the light of the world?How does this all make sense?Yeah, Jesus does say that in Matthew 5, 14, and then John 5, 35.To help answer those great questions, let me slip on my lab coat again and give you anotherpop quiz in astronomy.When you look up in the night sky and you see the moon shining bright.Does that moon actually have any light of its own?Where does its light come from?The sun, the light of the moon is shared and reflected.It's the same for John and it's the same for you and me.We have a shared and reflected light that is given to us by Jesus Christ.All throughout John chapter one, verses four through 13, the Greek word "phos" is usedin reference to Christ and "phos" is the essence of light.In John 5, 35, the Greek word "looknos" is used to describe John.A looknos is a portable lamp.Jesus is the light while John is the lamp that displays the light.A candle cannot shine on its own.It needs to be given the light of a flame.A lamp in your house cannot shine on its own.It needs to be given the light of a bulb.Jesus Christ is the sun and you are the moon.Jesus Christ is the flame, you are the candle.Jesus Christ is the bulb and you are the lamp.You are here on this earth to display His light to everyone, to shine His light in thedarkness, to bear witness about His light because you have none of your own.And I know what some of you were thinking at this point.Okay, Taylor, I know I need to buckle down and share the gospel.I need to make disciples.I need to shine His light everywhere.I'll do that as soon as the holidays are over.Whatever Christmas is in the rear view mirror, I'll get right on that.No, you won't.And you're thinking, where is your Christmas cheer, Pastor Taylor?What do you mean, no, I won't.I mean, you won't.If you will not bear witness the light of Christ today, what makes you think you'lldo it tomorrow?If you were unwilling to bear witness the light of Christ at the end of 2025, what makesyou think you'll be willing to do it at the start of 2026?Do you understand that Christmas is the perfect time to bear witness to the light of Christ?This is the time when you're around people, you're not usually around.This time of season is all about joy, but most people are miserable.Most people are looking for something that they cannot find because they're looking inthe wrong place.Right now is the perfect time to bear witness to the light.Grab a bunch of the Christmas Eve invite cards at the back table and hand them out as ifyou were given $100 for each one you handed out.I'm not going to give you $100, but the rewards you get in heaven for that will be infinitelygreater.Grab one of those invites, put it in an envelope, put money in that envelope, put a personalnote in that envelope and give it to your mailman tomorrow.Take it upon yourself to read scripture, your family get together this week and talk aboutwhy you're even celebrating Christmas, why Jesus came in the first place.Stop putting off that gospel conversation with that unsafe family member at Christmas.Finally do it.Invite that unbeliever who has no family in the area to your Christmas dinner.Buy them a Bible.Write a note in that Bible and give it to them.I keep going and going and going.There are so many ways to bear witness to the light of Christ this week.Don't make excuses for why you can't.Don't point to your calendar and say you're too busy.This is the reason why you're here, isn't it?To bear witness to the light.If anything, there's other things getting the way of the most important thing on your calendar.Don't justify your fear and laziness by saying you don't want to stir the pot this Christmas.You just want to have a calm Christmas.Shouldn't you care more about sharing the peace of Christ with your family and friends?When you belong to Christ, you recognize that you've been given a meaningful mission.When you belong to Christ, you value your calling way more than your comfort.When you belong to Christ, you make disciples, you don't make excuses.When you belong to Christ, you bear witness to his light because the darkness is everywherethat you go.I want to belong to Jesus because he gives me an unbeatable hope.I want to belong to Jesus because he gives me a meaningful mission.I want to belong to Jesus, final reason, because he gives me a spot in his family that I cannotearn.Because he gives me a spot in his family that I cannot earn.We talked about the message of the light and the messenger of the light.Now we're going to wrap up by talking about the two responses to the message of the light.The first response is in verses 9 through 11.The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.He was in the world and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.He came to his own and his own people did not receive him.As I said earlier, the light of the Son of God is offered to everyone.Anyone is welcome to step into the light.Anyone is welcome to receive the life of Christ and be forever changed.But most choose to step out of the light rather than do it.Most choose to reject the life of Christ that is offered.And this is proven by verse 11.He came to his own people and his own people did not receive him.And this verse has two different focuses.When you zoom out, John is talking about mankind.Statistically and biblically, there are way more non-Christians than Christians.There are way more people who reject Christ than receive him.We all agree on that basic fact of life.But if you zoom in, John is talking about Israel.Many of Jesus' fellow Jews rejected him, hated him, called for his crucifixion.Many of the Jews rejected the message of Christ when it was shared by the apostles.Even to this day, many Jewish people refuse to accept that Jesus is the light.That's not always going to be the case.All does say in Romans that one day all Israel will be saved.Do you have time to talk about that right now?As Pastor Jeff often says, "Buy me some Pantera bread or Chick-fil-A."We'll talk about it across the street sometime.Here's an important question.Why do most people reject Jesus?Why do most people not receive the light of Christ?John gives us a very simple yet sad answer.Later on in this Gospel in chapter 3 verses 19 through 20, he writes, "And this is thejudgment.The light is coming to the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light, becausetheir works were evil.For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,lest his works should be exposed."Have you ever been sleeping or laying in a dark room and suddenly someone turns thelights on?Are you overjoyed by this?Are you really excited by this?What's your natural human response?What do you do?You close your eyes, you cover your face with your hands and your blanket, you yell, "Turnthat light out!"That is the natural human response, physically and spiritually.It is far more comfortable to lay in the darkness than be in the light.It's simpler to be oblivious and not see yourself for who you really are.It's effortless to do nothing about your greatest problem, which is your sinful nature.It's easy to lash out at those who try to pull you into the light.That is why most people do not receive Jesus.They'd rather lay in the darkness.They love their sin more than Him.That's the first response to the message of the light.John says there's only one other response, and that's in verses 12 to 13, the best partof this entire passage.But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become childrenof God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will ofman, but of God.The first and wrong way to respond to Jesus is rejection.The second and right way to respond to Jesus is receiving and believing.You reach out to receive the gift of eternal life by believing in the name of Jesus Christ.We say that all the time, but what does it mean to believe in the name of Jesus?Well a name represents all of who a person is and all that a person does.When you believe in the name of Jesus Christ, you are believing that He is who the Biblesays that He is.That He has done all the Bible says He has done.You wholeheartedly believe that He is the Word of God who created all things.You have faith that He is the light of the world.He is your only source of hope.You trust that He is the Savior who died on the cross for your sins, who took the punishmentthat you deserve.You submit to the reality that He is the Lord of your life, who has the divine right totell you what to think, say, and do.When you receive Jesus and believe in His name, John says that you are given the rightto become a child of God.There are only two children in this entire world who have the right to claim that theyare my kids.I love all the kids in this church, but I love two of those kids the most.Only two of those kids have a legal right to say that I am their father.Only Samuel and Emmy Brown have that legal right.What's the evidence of this?Well, Kate and I have their birth certificates at home as proof that those kids belong tous.When you belong to Christ, your spiritual birth certificate is signed and sealed by His ownblood.You are given the right to claim God as your father and Jesus as your big brother.You have given the right to declare that you belong to the greatest family imaginable.Can you earn this right?Can you work your way into the family of God?Not according to John at the end of verse 13, he says, "Who were born not of blood northe will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God."You are not given the right to become a child of God because you're a good person who doesnice things for other people.You are not given the right to become a child of God because your parents are great Christiansand raised you in the church.You are not given the right to become a child of God because you come to church every oncein a while.You pray regularly and do community service projects.You are not given the right to become a child of God because of your track record and yourgood works.You are given the right to become a child of God because of the gracious work of God inChrist.That's it.That's the only source.How do you respond to Jesus?Do you reject Him or do you receive Him?Do you believe in His name, His work, and His reputation, or do you believe in your name,your works, and your reputation?One response leads to eternal destruction while the other leads to eternal life.One response leads to everything being taken away from you and the other leads to everythingbeing given to you.Please don't leave this room without considering who Jesus is and what He is offering you.Everything hinges on your response to Him.What do you want for Christmas?Do you want to belong to the world or do you want to belong to Jesus?Do you want to settle for the flickering hopes of this sinful culture or do you want theunbeatable hope of an unbeatable Savior?Do you want to lead a meaningless existence or do you want to carry out the meaningfulmission of pointing others to the point of life?Do you want to be a child of the devil who absolutely hates you or do you want to bea child of God who unconditionally loves you?If you have not yet believed and received Jesus, now is your chance.Now is your opportunity.You don't know if you're getting another opportunity past this one, so don't waste it.The life of Christ is being offered to you right now.Don't slap the gift away.The light of Christ is shining in this moment.Do not step back into the darkness once again.Now is your time.Now is your chance.You're alive right now.You're not guaranteed tomorrow.Life is hard.Discouragements and disappointments are all around us.It's so easy to lose track of what's important in the darkness.And we need the light of biblical reminders to let us know what is true, what is real,and what is right.This ring I wear on my left hand is a symbol that I belong to my wife.I'm taken.I'm out looking for anybody else to give me that feeling right to belong to.The Lord's Supper is a powerful symbol that you belong to Christ and no one else.You're spoken for by the Son of God and you're not looking for anyone else to give your life meaning.You're not looking to anything else to give your life meaning.

Liberty Church

Does your life feel like a stump right now? When we look at a stump, we usually see an end—judgment, destruction, or a life cut short. But in the Kingdom of God, a stump isn't a sign of death; it's a setup for a miracle. As we near the end of our Jesse Tree Advent series, we explore the powerful prophecy of Isaiah 11. Just as the mighty nation of Israel was cut down to a stump, many of us feel “cut down” by poor decisions, grief, or the weight of the world. But deep within the Stump of Jesse was a Root that couldn't be killed and a Shoot destined to change the world—Jesus. Join us as we discover how Jesus is the Root (our divine source), the Shoot (the humble baby in a manger), and the Branch that bears Fruit in our lives today. If you feel overlooked, undervalued, or left behind this Christmas, this message is for you. It's time to see your “stump” as a place of redemption, restoration, and renewal. The thing that looks like the end of your story might actually be the place where God is about to bring new life.

This sermon is based on Isaiah 7:10-17. You can also view each week’s sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: We always have Christmas to look forward to. No matter where we are in the calendar, Christmas is always just a few months away. But we are blessed. The people before Christmas came to earth didn't have any such hope. Instead, their lives were filled with misery and pain, waiting and longing, anxiety and heaviness. But that first Christmas changed all of that. Not only because it inaugurated the Kingdom of God. Not only because it welcomed the king. Not only because it proclaimed that God was with us, but because it was an incarnation of hope. And hope changes everything.

In episode 475 of The Reformed Brotherhood, host Jesse Schwamb explores the profound theological question: "Is God humble?" Through a careful examination of Philippians 2 and the narrative of Pharaoh in Exodus, Jesse unpacks how Christ's incarnation represents the ultimate act of divine humility. This episode reveals how Jesus—fully God and fully man—humbled himself through obedience to the point of death on a cross. As we approach the Christmas season, this timely reflection helps us understand that Christ's humility isn't just a theological concept but the very foundation of our salvation and the magnetic force that draws sinners to him. Jesse connects this humility to Jesus' parables about seeking the lost, showing that God's love manifests through the paradox of the exalted one becoming lowly. Key Takeaways Humility is fundamentally a creaturely virtue that acknowledges God as Lord and responds in obedience. Christ's incarnation wasn't a subtraction of divinity but an addition of humanity, allowing him to humble himself. Divine humility is displayed in Jesus becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Pride, the opposite of humility, is actively opposed by God throughout Scripture. Christ's humility is what draws sinners to him, as seen in the parables of the lost coin, sheep, and son. True humility embraces our limitations as creatures and recognizes God's rightful authority. Jesus learned obedience through suffering, becoming the perfect high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. The Paradox of Divine Humility Christ's humility represents one of the most astonishing paradoxes in Scripture. As Jesse explains, humility is properly understood as a creaturely virtue—it acknowledges God as Lord and obeys as a servant. For the eternal Son to humble himself, he first had to take on human nature. The incarnation wasn't God ceasing to be God but rather God adding humanity to himself. The divine Son emptied himself "not of divinity as if that were even possible, but of the privilege of not being human, not being a creature, not suffering the bounds and limitations of finitude and the pains and afflictions of the fallen world." This emptying makes possible Christ's perfect obedience. Since humility means acknowledging God as Lord and obeying as a servant, the Son took "the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men." This allowed Jesus to demonstrate a servant heart with equal passion for God's holiness and his people's purity. Unlike our inconsistent obedience, Jesus' obedience was "an all the way kind of obedience" that persisted through suffering to death on a cross. The Magnetic Draw of Christ's Humility One of the most profound insights from the episode is how Christ's humility functions as a magnetic force drawing sinners to him. Jesse notes that in the parables, tax collectors and sinners were drawn not to the Pharisees' teaching but to Jesus himself. They came "almost magnetically" to be in his presence and hear his words. Why would this be? The answer lies in recognizing that "we all have a master" and "we are all bound to something." The critical question becomes: "How good and kind is your master?" Christ's humility reveals him to be the perfect master—one who does not lord his authority over us but uses it to serve us, even to the point of death. This servant-hearted humility draws people because it demonstrates love in action. When Jesus humbles himself to seek the lost, he reveals that the gospel isn't about making "naughty people good, but to make dead people alive and alive in him so that their life is hidden within him." Memorable Quotes "To humble oneself is to acknowledge God as Lord and then to obey as servant. In order to do so, then the Son had to take this form of a servant being born in the likeness of men." "Christ's obedience was an all the way kind of obedience, a true obedience. It wasn't part and parcel, it wasn't peace wise, it didn't be for a part of time, as long as it was comfortable and then try something else." "To humble oneself is not to be less than human. It rather is pride that is our cancer. It's pride that corrodes our true dignity. To humble ourselves is to come even ever closer, step by step to the bliss, I think, and the full flourishing for which we're made." Full Transcript [00:00:08] Jesse Schwamb: So how did Jesus humble himself and this we could spend loved ones in eternity and likely will. Talking about how did he do this By becoming obedient. It wasn't even mean to. Here is the one who is the God man. Truly God. Truly man. To humble oneself is to acknowledge God as Lord and then to obey as servant in order to do so. Then the son had to take this form of a servant being born in a likeness of men. Again, this is so rich because I think without understanding the servant heart of Christ, where there is a power and a passion in Christ for the holiness of God that is at the same time equaled with the passion for the purity and the holiness of his people. Welcome to episode 475 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse, and this is the podcast where all of mankind is on the naughty list. Hey, brothers and sisters, I am solo hosting once again on this episode, but I don't want you to worry. Tony will be back. Tony is alive and well. He is out in the wild doing his thing. Actually, this is probably the time of year where Tony and I bring forward that annual or perennial denial. You know, the one, it's sy against the frailty, weakness, contingency of humankind. And most often manifested in this time of year in sickness. So I don't know where you live in the world, but in my part of the world, everybody's getting it and everything is going around. The sickness is everywhere. And even if you're bobbing and weaving, if you're laying low, if you're trying to keep your head down, it just seems somehow. To snipe you. And so it sniped Tony last week and this week. Now it is his family and so he's doing what we shall do for another. He's caring for those in his own regard that are sick and unwell. And so that means it's just me on this particular episode, but not to fear. We've got lots of great things to talk about. [00:02:12] The Question: Is God Humble? [00:02:12] Jesse Schwamb: In fact, the whole purpose of this episode is going to be talking about this question is God humble and. This, if you think it's just a one-off episode. It's actually born out of this continued series that we're doing where we're going through the parables. And again, we've been talking a lot about lostness and finding things and Christ coming and seeking, saving those things that were very lost. And so as I continue to process this with Tony, one of the things that keeps coming to my mind is this question is God. Humble and what does that even have to do with any of these wild parables that we've been talking about? You know the ones too, especially if you've been listening along and hopefully you have go back, check those bad boys out. We've been talking about the lost coin, the lost Sheep, and we have yet to get to because we're just teasing this for you. We, we keep telling you it's coming, but that's just to build like this amazing anticipation for the parable of the lost son or the prodigal son. It's coming, and part of that, again, for me is wrapped up in this question, is God humble? So let's talk about that a little bit. [00:03:13] Humility in Scripture [00:03:13] Jesse Schwamb: It's interesting to me that throughout the scriptures, we find across both all the New Testament, that God gives us this imperative to seek humility or to put on humility, or to have a humble mind, as Peter says. And it's something that is so ubiquitous that we kind of just flies by us. Of course. Like we would get the sense that it would be ridiculous to be like. I am so good at being humble that that in itself is oxymoronic. And yet we also know that we don't want to advertise, that we're trying to seek after humility. 'cause it seems like that's the very thing that we're trying to avoid in proclaiming or promulgating our pride and that kind of thing. But it's not just that, of course, God is seeking his children to be humble, but I think one of the most condemning things the scripture says to us about how God behaves. Toward people is that he opposes the proud. So the opposite of being humble, and we'll get to that in a second. We had to define what that means, but let's just take for a second that the opposite of that might be being prideful. It is fascinating that it's not just God is indifferent toward pride, that he does everything in his volition to push against it. And of course, because nothing can thwart the outstretched in mighty arm of God, that means that he wins inevitably against all that is pride prideful. And so he opposes it. And this is what. We should realize is that really the eschatological judgment, the fact that there is both heaven and hell reward and eternal punishment. This is a reflection of God opposing the proud that in the final state, the one who says, I want nothing to do with God because I can take care of it myself, is the one that God must oppose pose because he always. Opposes that which is prideful, and so it makes sense. Then if he opposes the proud, if that is in a way, an enemy that he will ultimately defeat, it cannot stand up against him that shouldn't. That in that path is both destruction that is internally derived and chosen, but also destruction that comes externally because it will be defeated. Then the best thing that God's people could be is to be humble. And so the question I think then persists, can God be humble? Is God. Humble. One of the things that is clear in scripture, again, this is the testimony of the entire arc of the salvific story of God and his recu of his people. Um, the coming and drawing close giving of himself so that he might draw people onto himself. Is that the testimony of humility is both positive and negative in the scriptures. So we could look at examples of those who humbled themselves. That's what the scripture says, like Josiah, Hezekiah, Rebo, Ahab, Vanessa, and then there, of course, you could probably think of as just as many negative examples who did not. What comes to my mind, of course, is Pharaoh. Or am Amen or Zetia. So what becomes clear though is when you look at those examples that the humbling first belongs to the hand of God. That even here, once again, God's doing all the verbs. That's exactly what he does. And so this idea of even like humbling yourself. Has like a precursor, there's an antecedent. And is God doing some kind of great work to allow for this humbling to even take place? He initiates the humbling of his creatures. And once he has, then the question confronts us, uh, which is, are we going to receive it? How will we bear up underneath it? Will we submit ourselves to it because God has allowed us, or has humbled ourselves first so that we don't respond in kind. So in response to his humbling hand. Will we kick against him? Or as the, you know, king James version says, will we kick against the gods or are we going to come and humble ourselves before God? So this idea, I think of humbling ourselves isn't just like you wake up one day and you say, no, it'd be really fantastic. Is my life would be better if I was just humble. I, I hear that God opposed to the proud, I don't wanna get. Lost in that. I don't wanna get wrapped in that. I would rather, instead I just become more humble. Even the ability to humble oneself first comes from this humbling hand of God, which is of course the greatest gift. And so of course Peter writes, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. I mean, that's where I'm drawing this from and. That is the first descent of humility. The first coming down is a word that God would do that for us, will put us in a place that we might be humbled. And then the creature has somewhat in his turn kind of imperfect language, but somehow in his response that God is humbling me. Will I embrace it? Will I humble myself? So given that background, I think you know exactly where I'm about to go in the scripture, and that is. The pretty, I would say, epic passage of humility, which is Philippians two. It's one of the most striking assertions in all of scriptures. That Christ himself, Jesus the Savior, the one who is truly God and truly man, he humbled himself and God himself truly divine, truly human, and the person of his son, he humbles himself. And I think that is worth the slow meditation and a little bit of marveling again, as we consider that in light of. All that happens in these parables about lostness and ness is coming from in some way this first humility. And I think that's just so critical because it's not just context, it's the air in which we breathe and operate and understand who we are and who we are in Christ. And so I think before like we even assume. I wanna assume like too much about like this idea of humility and then getting it ultimately to this question is God humble, which you may think I just answered by reading Philippians two eight, but in fact I think it's even more complex and more beautiful and more deeply layered than all of that. I think it's worth for a second, just thinking about this idea of like, what is humility? [00:08:35] Pharaoh's Pride vs. Humility [00:08:35] Jesse Schwamb: And as far as I can tell, really the first mention of humility outright, like outright mention explicit notation in the scriptures comes in that showdown between Egypt's Pharaoh and Yahweh mediated through Moses and. And I picked this because it's really instructive for getting a sense of how the Bible, how the scripture, the Holy Spirit is apprehending this word and driving it into the context so that we might learn from it, so that later on we're told that we ought to exhibit humility, put on humility that we understand it in the way that God has taught it to us. And so you'll remember. Probably that Moses dared to appear before Pharaoh. He is an Exodus five, and he speaks on Yahweh's behalf, and it's that famous sentence, that famous imperative, let my people go to, which Pharaoh replies in my paraphrase, listen, I don't know who Yahweh is. I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't listen to his voice. I don't acknowledge him, and therefore you can't go. It's just not gonna happen. What is incredible about this. What I think is like really illustrative for our lives is that Pharaoh swollen in pride here, and again, God's gonna pose him swollen with all of this. Pride has, it's not that he hasn't thought through what he's saying here, it's just that he's made an incredible miscalculation. He actually did a little mathematics here as the creature, and he decides that. As a creature in relation to the creator God that he does not need to obey. In other words, he does not acknowledge or recognize or know this God, and because he doesn't know any of those things about Yahweh, then he's well within his reason to come to the conclusion that he does not need to obey and therefore he refuses. The reason why I think that's so critical and a little bit wild is that is exactly what the natural man is prone to do to make this miscalculation built on even some kind of reasonable logic, so to speak. That says, well, because I don't understand it, because I don't see it, because I can't acknowledge it because I've never heard it. Therefore, it cannot exist. It doesn't exist. It's not worthy of being obeyed. It's a bit like saying, just because I've never seen fire, that's not hot. And so it's crazy here that in the midst of all of that, we could say Pharaoh has made this enormous miscalculation. And so what he's going to do is he's going to essentially oppose God. He refuses to obey, and then of course, Exodus 10 as we move. This story describes this call to humility, and it is a call to humility, which when I was thinking back through this, I was like, this is wild. Because we tend to think this story as like submission and beating down and humility might not be the principle word. That comes to our mind when we think about how Har Pharaoh has to ultimately respond. But after seven plagues on the cusp of the eighth plague, God speaks to Pharaoh, and again, he's listen. He says to him, how long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? So fascinating because we have this. Humbling, mighty hand of God, the outstretched work of God, his hand and arm going out into the world of his creation and putting Pharaoh in a particular place and position. And the piercing question in this context of this extended powerful encounter gives us this glimpse into the heart of humility, which I think is this humility recognizes and obeys the one who is truly. God. So there's not just an intellectual scent, but an experiential knowledge that comes from the revelation of who God is that is under his purview granted to his people, and that then causes us to acknowledge and obey the one who's truly Lord. It's exact opposite of affairs response, which again says, I don't know that voice. I've never heard it. Who is Yahweh? And instead it's replaced with a humility that acknowledges that God is Lord of all, that Jesus Christ is one only son, and that his Holy Spirit is with and indwells his people and that he is truly Lord. So humility entails this kind of right view, I think of self. Because Pharaoh Miscalculates, but the humble person makes the right calculus, the one who is created by God and accountable to God, which requires the right view of God as creator and this authority in relation to all his creatures. And so humility then is of course, like not a preoccupation with self or one's, even one's own lowness only in so much as it's in relation to what we just mentioned. That's a right view of self. It's an agreement with God. Of course confession coming alongside agreeing with God, but it's a mindful and conscious understanding of who God is and his highness, his holiness, that he's high and lifted up, and then the self in respect to his position. You know, that's one of the things that I think always strikes me about humility is that it's this idea and this acknowledgement that God is high and lifted up. And so while we don't come too hard on ourselves merely because we want to create a pity party, it's a recognition that. Aside from the mediator work of Christ to to stand in the presence of God would to be literally torn asunder by the molecule because his holiness cannot be, or rather, I would say our sinfulness cannot be in this presence of the one who is perfect in majesty and in righteousness, in intellect, and in in comprehension and creativity. We cannot exist in that space apart from this mediated work of Christ the beautiful. Be editorial, like benevolent distance, so to speak, that Christ creates so that we might come into the presence of God, as Hebrew says, running as it were, coming in, not haphazardly, but purposefully into the throne room of God because. And his holiness. He's a way to, he's made a way for him to be just and justifier. That is incredible. Loved ones. It's beautiful. And that is all. Again, I think just underneath this parable, it's starting with this sense of humility has brought all of this into play, and it's a critical part of God's design and plan. There's a condescension, but I think even here, underneath that condescension is something about humility. That is worth discussing. And there is, the question again, is God humble. So put it another way. Humility, I think embraces the reality that you and I. We're not God. You know, pride led to humanity's fall when Adam and Eve desired to be like God, which is contrary to his command and humility would have obeyed his command, which is what we'll see when we come to Christ and especially Christ's work. So. [00:15:06] Christ's Humility and Obedience [00:15:06] Jesse Schwamb: It strikes me then, and this is why I threw out this question, is like, is God humble? It's kind of a setup, I'll be honest, because all of I said so far, if you are keeping score at home, you probably should be drawing out then that I'm essentially saying that humility is a creaturely virtue. Actually, it's not just me. A lot of people have said that, a lot of the old ones. I postulate that, that when we think about humility explicitly and in a narrow context, that's a creaturely virtue. It's a posture of. All of who we are, our soul, our body, our life, our activities, our families, our possessions. It's acknowledgement in those things and embracing that the goodness of God and that he is the one who controls and commands all things, all of our destiny, which means. This question is God humble? It is kind of like linguistically and theologically tricky, like not for the sake of creating a tricky question for like a part of the game, but the the answer is in a sense, no, but not because God, I think is the opposite of what we'd consider humble. He's not arrogant, he's not prideful. Rather, humility is a creaturely virtue and he's God. So we need to be again, in this appropriate separation of our state and who God is, recognizing that those are two very different things. All of this though, I think, contributes to moving us in a direction of understanding, well, what does this mean then? For Jesus Christ, the God man, the one who humbled himself. You've probably been screaming the entire time. Will you get to that? What about that? And I think that is the critical question that is behind everything that we're reading about. In these parables. In other words, why is Jesus this way? What has brought him into this particular place to say these particular things to these people? We talked last time about how one of the things that's remarkable is that all of these sinners, like the down out, the broken, the marginalized, the pariahs, they were all drawn to Jesus teaching, not even drawn. I mean, there's distinction not drawn to the Fara teaching, to the rules of the law, but drawn to Jesus, almost magnetically coming to him. Compelled as it were, to be in his presence, to hear the things he was saying. Captivate, I mean, can you imagine yourself there? Not necessarily there in that environment, but captivated again by the teachings of Jesus, how good they are, how true they are, how incredible they are. And so I think it's possible for us to marvel then at that remarkable word then from the impossible, Paul, when he says that Christ humbled himself in Philippians two, eight. And no, I think that that confirms our definition above of humanity, uh, of. Humility rather as being something in humanity, of being a, a creaturely virtue in that the eternal son first became a man. That's what Paul says in verse seven, and then humbled himself in verse eight. And I'm gonna submit to you that this is really the one of the most epic parts of the gospel that. This is the only way we can get this kind of humility, this humbling of God is if first he comes to undertake the creaturely virtue so that then he himself or become rather, lemme say it this way, I'm getting too excited, loved ones. It's rather that we first must have God become a creature, so to speak, not emptying himself as we'll. Talk about. Of, of his godness, but instead taking on this flesh so that he might humble himself be to be like his children who must be humbled and in fact will ultimately be humbled in the ES eschaton no matter what they believe. And so the verb Paul uses to capture the action of the incarnation is, is not humbled here first, but it's this idea of emptied. So again, Philippians two is verse six and seven. Paul writes, being in the form of God, Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of man. And so this movement. [00:18:59] The Incarnation and Humility [00:18:59] Jesse Schwamb: From heaven to earth, which if you're listening to this in more or less real or New York time, as we're coming into the season of the calendar where we celebrate the incarnation, again, I've been thinking so much about this beautiful gift of the incarnation, and I've been thinking about that in light of Jesus coming to seek and to save the lost and this real heart to hearts kind of way where he's speaking the truth to the people who need to hear it most, and they're drawn magnetically to him, into his teaching. And so that movement. From Heaven to earth is an emptying. It's the divine son emptying himself, not of divinity as if that were even possible, but of the privilege of not being human, not being a creature, not suffering the bounds and limitations of finitude and the pains and afflictions of the fallen world. I think a lot, honestly, especially this time of year, I think a lot about strange things like Jesus has fingernails and blood vessels and eyeballs and hair and toes. And shins and knee bones, you know, all of these things. Because to me it's this incomprehensible reality that God loves me so much that he would send his only son to be a creature, but in a way that was limited to the same creatureliness that I have. And then would forever, in a way, in his glorified state, identify still with that creature. And only in that process could he come and humble himself. I mean, that's incredible. I mean. Could not have grasped like the divine privilege of not being subjected to the rules and realities of creation. But instead, he empties himself by taking our humanity. He was emptying not by subtraction of identity, but by addition of humanity. This is the taking, the taking on, and this allows him then to become obedient and in that obedience, that passive and act of obedience. What we find is that Christ is able to say these very things that are exemplified in the parables, that this is the height of God, and he says, it is in your midst. The kingdom of God is here and I am the kingdom, and it's all because he has come in such a way. To empty himself again, where that was not a subtraction of divinity, but addition of humanity. It is an amazing and glorious truth. It's the thing upon which like turns all of salvation and all of the world that God would do this and do it so completely that again, it's finalized, it's complete, it's already done. So first, Jesus became a man. And then as a man came the ly virtue, he humbled himself. And Paul confirms what we learned about humility. In the negative example, I think in Pharaoh of Pharaoh in Nexus 10 and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [00:21:49] Christ's Obedience to Death [00:21:49] Jesse Schwamb: So how did Jesus humble himself and this we could spend loved ones in eternity and likely will. Talking about how did he do this By becoming obedient. It wasn't even mean to. Here is the one who is the God man. Truly God. Truly man. To humble oneself is to acknowledge God as Lord and then to obey as servant in order to do so. Then the son had to take this form of a servant being born in a likeness of men. Again, this is so rich because I think without understanding the servant heart of Christ, where there is a power and a passion in Christ for the holiness of God that is at the same time equaled with the passion for the purity and the holiness of his people. And those two things come together and coalesce in the gospel because we know that righteousness and holiness is completely vouched, safe to God. It's under his purview and his control, and it comes to his people when he draws close. That's how it was in the Old Testament, and that's how it was in the New Testament. And so as Christ in human form is coming and drawing near to his people, he's preaching this good news message that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will have salvation and eternal life in him So intimately wrapped up that again, he hasn't just come. In the Christmas season to make naughty people good, but to make dead people alive and alive in him so that their life is hidden within him, and therefore, because he's the indestructible life, your life and mine cannot be destroyed either. I. So it is this amazing mark of the fullness of humanity and identification with us that he didn't just come on special terms. You know, I often think it's not like God on a deck chair laid out looking down as a creation separate as he were, as it were, just observing and kind of more or less interjecting here and there. It wasn't Jesus coming at. Arms length, distance. It wasn't God snatching him up when the frustrations of our limits or the pains of our world fell him. He had the full human experience. He was all in fully human and body mind. Hearts will and surroundings. Fully human in our finitude and all of this frustrations that we share that are just part of our lives, fully human in. Vulnerability to the worst of the civil world can work. Clearly that's manifested in his ign Ammonious death. Nor was he at the bottom spared the very essence of being human. He was accountable to God. Even there, that humility is incredible, that he himself learned, undertook, became obedient so that he would be accountable to God a father. Hebrews five celebrates this. Exactly. I love this set of words. Although Jesus was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered and being made perfect. He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. And if he is our first brother, then the calling that we have is to do exactly the same, to come before him, to obey him and to see him as the one who is high and lift it up. But that self humbling, that humiliation doesn't just stop with obedience. And that's why the apostle keeps going. It says to the point of death, how far did it take him? How far did he go? How far was he willing to go? Volitionally all the way. To the point of death. And Christ obedience was an all the way kind of obedience, a true obedience. It wasn't part and parcel, it wasn't peace wise, it didn't be for a part of time, as long as it was comfortable and then try something else. You know, of course, even in the garden when he's praying and the disciples are with the in your shot and he asked that the cup might pass, we might reasonably ask what other option was there. And so here even Christ says. Even to the point of death, forsaking all other things, real obedience endures in obedience, which is a really difficult thing. And so I'm grateful because my obedience is peace wise, it is part and parcel, it is weak, it is feeble. And instead we have Christ who is transferred all of his righteousness into our account. And all of that righteousness is because of real obedience that he undertook, endured in obedience. And so Christ did not begin obedience and then surrender disobedience once the greatest threats loomed even in the garden. There he again. He is coming before the father and he is continuing to obey. He's humbled. So I think God does indeed command our humility and one of the ways that he can command that it, well, there's many ways. First and foremost, by fiat, he's God and his character demands it. The second way is that, again, coming back to these parables. Finally, and lastly, we see that Christ is exhibiting great humility in the message that he's bringing forward and all of this, that he comes forward to save and all of the seeking that he undertakes, he conspires with God in humility to bring his children. Into the fold. There was no other way without this incredible humility of Christ, this humility that shows us that it's not denigrating of humanity, but it's God's image shining in its fullness. That this is the very thing he comes to restore and to humble oneself is not to be less than human. It rather it is. Pride that is our cancer. It's pride that corrodes our true dignity to humble ourselves is to come even ever closer, step by step to the bliss, I think, and the full flourishing for which we're made. And Christ exemplifies that very thing. And I submit to you loved ones. It's that very humility. This is what I buried the lead on last week. It's that very humility that draws the sinner. Because we all have a master. We are all slaves to something, which I know is really unpopular to say, but hear me out. We are all stuck on something. We are all bound into something. It's just like we say with worship, it's not whether we not, we choose to worship. It's what we worship and we are what we worship. All those things are true. All those cliches stand and if they're true, then the opposite is true and that is that we're all bound to something. The question is how good and kind is your master. The thing in which you are bound to the thing which you choose to serve and submit to how life giving is that thing. And the humility of Christ clarifies that not all of our hum lings are owning to our own sin that Christ had. None, none. Yet he humbled himself. Sometimes repentance is the first step in self humbling. Other times it's not. Our self humbling may often come in response to our exposure to sin, but even in Christ sinless as he was. He heeded the father's call to humble himself. And so I think for us, as we think about what it means then to go and study these parables, we first even need to humble our understanding, our cognizance, our reasoning, our logic, that the scripture as given by God as his very word to us, stand so far above us. That while we study it and we interrogate it, that we dare not stand in opposition to it because it is the high and lofty command of God for us because he's good and his love endures forever. So I hope that as we continue to build into this next step of looking at this final lost parable, that we can all continue to just appreciate and boast in the God man who in his humility, makes the gospel possible, and that in his humility shows. A greater sense of what it means to have the abundant life. And we have to take Jesus at his word, loved ones when he says like He's come, not just to give life, but to give it in abundance that that is a real quantity, and that the humility of Christ in his life and death and resurrection testifies to one of God's clearest and most memorable promises in all of scripture. That again, he humbles the proud and he exalts the humble. So it was with Christ. He humbled himself and God has highly exalted him. I remember reading John Owen writing about. Justification and Christ's time of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and his preparation for the cross and inevitably his, his forsaking, his forsakenness on that cross and how Jesus himself entrusted his justification to God the Father, which I think is a. A, a conception that will make your mind do a somersault. I mean, think about it long enough that even Jesus himself in learning obedience and taking upon himself the full measure of what it was to sit under the law and then to obey it perfectly, was still going to his death, knowing that he was gonna be the greatest sinner who ever lived yet was gonna be the one without sin, having committed any, that he himself was entrusting all of that he had accomplished and who he was. To God the father, to justify him and his resurrection on the third day loved ones is proof positive that he is the savior. That we all long for that in our sickness right now, as in our world, as all these things groan, as they all say, in some way, maratha, Lord, come quickly, that we are acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the one. Who in his complete humility satisfied the law of God to such degree that he was justified before God the father, and raised TriNet on the third day as proof positive that he is in fact the Savior, the chosen one, the Messiah, the first brother, the firstborn among the dead, the serpent crusher. The one who will come and redeem all of his people. So I hope there's something in there for you that's an encouragement that lifts up as if they were even possible to do more than they already are. That lifts up these parables that we've been talking about, that it's not just, of course, that Jesus on this mission because. He's full of love. His love predated all of this. Now, this is why we keep coming back to, uh, all Christians at all times, in all heirs. John three 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Now whosoever should believe in him. Now, all the believing ones should have eternal life, and that eternal life is purchased by the blood of Christ and through his humility, but also it is a, a stark reminder that love always leads to giving. And here we have God the father, giving his son Unreservedly for us, becoming Creature Lee, so that he might undertake the humility of the creature. And in so doing fully, not just, I would say identify with who we are, but become like us in every a. Way yet without sin, which is why can we rejoice that even now in the sound of my voice or yours, wherever you are, there is Jesus Christ in Heavenly Rumble. Before the God the Father interceding perfectly as this incredible representative, as the scriptures are, he says, as this best of all, the high priests, the perfect one. Who is ushering us in to bend the ear, as it were of God because of what he's accomplished on our behalf. Man, that is good news. And if it's not good news and you don't think it is, you better check your pulse. Check it right now. [00:33:20] Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser [00:33:20] Jesse Schwamb: So you need to come back. And listen to the next episode because we are, I mean, I think assuming everybody's healthy, Lord willing, we're gonna talk about the Prodigal Son and really wrap up this culmination of the lost parables. But of course, you know that I'm contractually obligated to say to you all. That you don't have to just wait to interact until the next podcast. You can come hang out with us, and I gotta say it again for all the people in the back. The way that you do that is this little app called Telegram. You might be using Telegram already to message with your friends and your family. If so, you might not have known that. There's also a little group within Telegram for the Reform Brotherhood. Everybody who listens, everybody wants to hang out and talk about theology or life share prayer requests. It's all happening right there, and I promise you, you will not be disappointed if you come check it out. So you're probably saying enough already. Tell me how to do that. Alright, here's what you do. Get a piece of paper, stop the car, put down the backhoe for a second, and listen up. You go to your favorite browser and you type in t me slash reform brotherhood. T. Me Reform Brotherhood. Come hang out with us. Come talk about the episode, and until then, everybody stay. Well keep your head down. Don't list sick sickness night people. But remember, even if it does, you have this great high priest who endured obedience, in obedience to bring you abundant life, to identify with you, to resonate with you, to give you the love of God, and to finally conquer sin, death, and the devil. I say loved ones, so until next time, you know what to do. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood.

In this episode, Brian Miller and Chad Hall revisit Matthew chapters 8 and 9 to explore the escalating revelation of Jesus' authority—from healing a leper and a centurion's servant to calming a storm and forgiving sins. They trace how each miracle expands the borders of inclusion, challenges human expectations, and demonstrates that nothing—disease, distance, nature, or even sin—can stand outside Jesus' transforming reach. The conversation turns deeply practical for Christian coaches, connecting forgiveness and reconciliation to the heart of transformational coaching. Key Highlights Inclusion as the heartbeat of the Kingdom. Jesus' first acts after the Sermon on the Mount—healing a leper and a Roman centurion's servant—reveal a radical openness that shocks religious boundaries. Escalating power and presence. Each story shows Jesus' authority expanding: from physical healing to calming creation to resolving the cosmic issue of sin. Opting out vs. opting in. Many reject Jesus not because He excludes them, but because inclusion offends their control, comfort, or sense of superiority. Forgiveness as spiritual power. Forgiving sins wasn't symbolic—it was a cataclysmic act that disrupted religious structures and revealed divine reconciliation. Coaching connection. Like Jesus, coaches help others see what's hidden beneath the surface—often an invisible need for forgiveness or reconciliation that keeps clients stuck. Takeaways Transformation begins with inclusion. God's kingdom reaches the excluded first—and invites everyone willing to step in. Forgiveness is deeper than fixing. In both faith and coaching, lasting change often starts with releasing resentment or guilt. Don't fear the storm. Growth requires following Jesus into chaos—where peace and clarity emerge. Invisible forces matter. Emotional and spiritual "black holes" like unforgiveness bend everything around them until they're addressed. Coaching is kingdom work. Helping clients reconcile—to God, themselves, and others—is a sacred act of restoration, not just problem-solving.

Acts 28:23-31 The Kingdom of God

The three guys are back this week with special guest Nathan Leamer (CEO, Fixed Gear Strategies) to discuss artificial intelligence (AI). As CEO and Ruling Elder (PCA), Nathan navigates the intersection of technology, public policy, and the kingdom of God in this insightful and engaging conversation. Of note, Barry learns what LLM means and also …

A CHRISTMAS CAROL WK3 - Christmas Future: In this episode of the Sacred Echo podcast, hosts Paddy McCoy, Dave Ferguson, and Andreas Beccai discuss the significance of Christmas and its connection to the book of Revelation. They explore themes of hope, inclusion, and the overarching narrative of salvation throughout scripture. The conversation delves into the contrasts of light and darkness, the importance of community, and the invitation to the kingdom of God. The hosts emphasize the beauty of the Christmas story as a revelation of Jesus and the promise of a future filled with hope and reconciliation.

How are future pastors and deaconesses formed at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis? The Rev. Dr. Thomas Egger (President, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis) and the Rev. Jesse Kueker (Director of Enrollment, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis) join Andy and Sarah to talk about what they love about their work at Concordia Seminary, the church work programs available at Concordia Seminary, why these programs are unique, what students experience in these programs, events that serve the church globally, why listeners should consider formation at Concordia Seminary, and first steps for someone considering church work. Learn more about Concordia Seminary at csl.edu. Christ's church will continue until He returns, and that church will continue to need church workers. Set Apart to Serve (SAS) is an initiative of the LCMS to recruit church workers. Together, we pray for workers for the Kingdom of God and encourage children to consider church work vocations. Here are three easy ways you can participate in SAS: 1. Pray with your children for God to provide church workers. 2. Talk to your children about becoming church workers. 3. Thank God for the people who work in your congregation. To learn more about Set Apart to Serve, visit lcms.org/set-apart-to-serve. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.

Psalm 145:1–2, Ezra 5:5, Revelation 11:3-19. It not only refers to kingdom in a political or geographical sense, but it also conveys the notion of activity – the activity of ruling and reigning The *kingdom of God* means ‘*the rule and reign of God*'

In this episode, I'm joined by theologian and storyteller Leonard Sweet for a deep conversation on the imagination of Jesus and why imagination is central to faith, discipleship, and what it means to be human. We talk about how Jesus doesn't simply explain reality but reshapes it through story and metaphor, and why Jubilee sits at the heart of his vision for the world. We also explore what it means to move beyond fear-based, information-driven faith toward a life where Christ is formed in us. This conversation is an invitation to move from knowing about God to truly knowing God, and to live with an imagination shaped by goodness, beauty, and truth.Leonard Sweet is one of the most prolific Christian authors in the world today, with over 70 books to his name—and a dozen more on the way–and 2000 published sermons. A theologian of imagination, a semiotician of Bible and culture, and a prophetic voice to the church, Sweet defies easy categorization. His works span genres and generations, challenging readers to see the world—and the gospel—with fresh eyes. While others chase bestseller lists, Sweet charts a different path: one defined not by sales, but by depth, creativity, and theological daring.Len's Book:Jesus: Maker, Mender, Minder, MasterLen's Recommendation:They Flew: A History of the ImpossibleConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.comGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTubeConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link belowGet the Presence over Power collection at shiftingculturepodcast.com/store Get Your Sidekick Support the show

Shelly has served the body of Christ as a Pastor for over 35 years. He is a bible teacher and conference speaker on the subjects of The Kingdom of God, The Mystery of Israel & The Church and for God’s people to be prepared in their hearts for the end of this age. https://shellyandjunevolk.com/Support the show: https://shellyandjunevolk.com/product/partner-with-us-psalm-127-fund/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Ken Shuman interviews Scott Hescht, a Faithwalking coach and facilitator and a bivocational pastor, about the impact Faithwalking has had on his life and his ministry.Scott shares that one way Faithwalking has had a major impact on his life is by helping him learn how to manage his anxiety, particularly by teaching him to slow down and reflect. As someone who is constantly thinking, processing, and analyzing, Faithwalking has given him healthier ways to engage these tendencies. When it comes to his ministry, Scott shares, "Faithwalking has changed who I am as a pastor and helped me to pastor in a healthy way." One key shift has been learning to listen rather than fix. "I'm a much better listener now, rather than a fixer...Before, I thought it was my job to listen a little bit, give the answers, and wrap everything in a pretty bow" and send people on their way. Faithwalking helped him confront a deep fear of being responsible for people and their outcomes. " As a result, he has learned to love, listen to, and shepherd others without carrying a weight that was never his to bear. When asked what he would say to someone considering Faithwalking, Scott responds, "Think about the ways that you show up in life that you would rather show up differently, and imagine a world where it's actually possible to do that." Before Faithwalking, he says he often assumed those patterns were simply “just the way that I am” and would never change. "It's what following Jesus is all about - he defines us as new creations" and invites us to learn how to live into that reality. Faithwalking, he says, equips people to do exactly that. "It's what the Kingdom of God is all about."This episode was recording in September 2025.

Hello future humans with self-agency inspiring human potential!Become a paid subscriber to access practical exercises that use mindset, mindfulness & mindsight to grow confidence, handle change with good stress, raise your frequency & inner stillness & ground yourself in VVS: ⁠podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-florio/subscribe⁠Inspiring Human Potential spotlights higher-self mindset lifestyle POVs, stories, ideas & practices.Maria Florio inspires human potential by sharing the keys to inner growth & following your heart. She brings together human, spiritual, & spirituality elements to explore human evolution, consciousness, & being yourself. She looks at how sciences & spirituality together reveal the way to access infinite higher human consciousness potential when pursuing self-help, personal development, spiritual growth, & mental & emotional mastery. She also talks about how mindset & lifestyle, mindfulness, secure attachment, integration of the brain, & restorative embodiment lead to higher intelligence & fulfillment. She uses perspectives & stories from her self-empowered, enlightening, mystic, spiritual, & mindful life. From the age of eight, Maria decided she was going to help people when she grew up. A vague statement that meant to her, & still means, to help people live a good life as themselves.5D mystic POV stories on mindfulness, educational podcasts & being yourselfA securely attached self-led mystic, spiritual & mindful person knows inconsistencies for what they are: fear, fear of intimacy, emotional vulnerability & being yourself in connection.Be you, mindful & flawed with integrity.Love is supporting each other to fly. Love lifts you up when you're down & it soars the skies with you when you're up. Love is always there."The kingdom of God is within you." - JesusLove, Maria5D Mystic Spiritual Self-Help Mindful Mentor Podcast Spiritual & Science Human VoiceBringing Together Human, Spiritual & Spirituality Elements to Explore Human Evolution & ConsciousnessEmail ⁠floriomaria80@gmail.com⁠ for 1-to-1 Mentorship or Masterclass & Spiritual Workshops & Retreats info."It is the ability to bring out the best in others that makes you a leader." - Sadhguru"Mindfulness can help integrate the mind, body, & relationships, which can lead to well-being." - Dan Siegel, MD"A non traumatized person with a secure attachment has the capacity to regulate independently of relationships." - Pat Ogden, PhDSecurely attached self-led people are strong, brave & bring change for the better because we embody intelligence, expand consciousness & self.Be Yourself In Connection In Life & Love - 5D Mystic Functional Adult POVs & StoriesSubscribe on Spotify, YouTube: @inspiringhumanpotential, another favorite podcast platform you use, or Fanbase.5D Mystic Enlightenment Functional Adult Relationships New Stories To Heal Trauma Together & Bring Forth Your Humanity"If you are a piece of creation, the Creator is definitely embedded within you. You just have to turn inward to know." - SadhguruYou'll know the piece of creation you are once you're living life as a securely attached restorative embodied self-aware, accountable & regulating person.Love, Maria5D Mystic Woo-Woo Pseudoscience Self-Help Mindful Mentor & Podcast HostMaria brings together sciences & spirituality to support human evolution & consciousness, to shed light on love & you being able to be you, the authentic you - an inner child adult who has secure attachment, integration of the brain, & restorative embodied self-aware life potential with your personal motivation to do self-help & personal development that get your self-awareness to put into practice accountability & regulation skills with the mental, emotional, & physical mastery at play as you apply & use the inner growth mindset & lifestyle approach.Inspiring Human Potential Inner Growth 5D Self-Empowered Enlightened Expanding Consciousness Voices, Stories & Perspectives

Main Texts: Mark 10:13-16 & 10:17-24The Call to accept Christ as little children, from infancy to 12years old, was a radical call for ancient Jewish culture:Countercultural.In Jesus' day, children, while loved (especially sons) wereconsidered for the most part immature, unreasonable and objectsto be trained. They were to be schooled until the ages 13, to beconsidered a useful part of adult Jewish society.Elite rabbis like Jesus should not waste their busy lives andmission, addressing children, rather focus their needed attentionto the issues of the adult world. But Jesus broke this societal ruleand encouraged parents to bring their children to be officially“blessed” by Him. (verse 14)And He became incensed when His own disciples “rebuked”them: The children and their parents, and even possibly Jesus!But when Jesus heard their rebuke and saw their dismissiveattitudes, that was more loyal to their rigid Judaism, He becomeindignant/angry at them (verse 14).He then set up a new rule for His good news: “Let the littlechildren come to me and do not hinder them (and their parents)for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these”, not like theproud but those running to receive His gift.Like the children's humble demeanor, the adults are to realizehumbly their need and accept Jesus' grace, gift or they wouldnever enter the Kingdom of heaven (verse 15).This story provides a fitting contrast for the Rich adult who was areligious heavy weight (see Mark 10:17-24). He bragged to be aheavy-weight in Judaism as well trusting in his riches. (The love ofmoney can become the root of all evil. 1 Timothy 6:10)Jesus pointed this out in verse 21, and with a heart of love askedhim surrender his first love and to receive the gift of Jesuskingdom or have also treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).He refused the offer: “At this the man's face fell and he went awaysad because in spite of his religious law abiding, he selfishlyaccrued great wealth (my paraphrase of verse 22), he did notreceive the kingdom.Contrast this to the joy experienced by the children and theirparents in Mark 10:13-16. They were willing to approach Jesus,counter-culture, with the need and hunger to be blessed by Jesus,and accept His gift of the Kingdom.They had no claim of power and status, especially from theirreligious society, but the humble need to be “touched” or“blessed” by Jesus; and not earn but receive the Kingdom as agift. The disciples' failure to understand Jesus' kingdom as a giftof grace responding to humility, earned Jesus' ire and rebuke.And the children received, not earned, His hands upon them andblessing.They demonstrated the attitude needed to enter into Christ'sKingdom: The rich adult was out; the children and their parentswere in!AMEN

Notes Luke 2:1-20 John 1:1-14 Summary In this episode of the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, hosts Eric Fistler and Rob McCoy explore the significance of Christmas Eve, focusing on the Gospel of Luke and John. They discuss the nativity story, emphasizing themes of hospitality, community, and the deeper meanings behind familiar narratives. The conversation highlights the importance of welcoming God into our lives and the transformative power of the incarnation. Through reflections on the shepherds and the poetic nature of John's Gospel, the hosts invite listeners to engage with the Christmas story in a meaningful way. Takeaways This year Christmas falls on a Wednesday, which is exciting for many. The podcast will focus on the Gospel of Luke and John for Christmas Eve. Rob is hosting a preaching retreat in January for those interested in planning their sermons. The story of Jesus' birth is often simplified, but it holds deeper meanings. The concept of 'no room at the inn' can be reframed to highlight hospitality. Shepherds symbolize the vulnerable and caring nature of leadership in the story. The Gospel of John presents a poetic view of the incarnation. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot extinguish it. The story of Jesus' birth invites us to reflect on our own hospitality. The community aspect of faith is emphasized in the discussion. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Christmas Eve Preaching 02:56 Retreat Announcement and Preaching Preparation 05:46 Christmas Reflections and Personal Experiences 08:52 Exploring Luke 2:1-20 - The Birth of Jesus 14:44 The Significance of the Shepherds 21:55 Juxtaposition of Empire and Hospitality 28:19 The Kingdom of God and Vulnerability 38:50 The Word Made Flesh: A Poetic Exploration 54:47 Radical Hospitality and Welcoming God 56:42 Community and Connection in Faith  

Welcome to Grace Community Church on demand, the weekly podcast from the Sunday services at Grace Community Church in Rupert, Idaho. At Grace we believe in building the Kingdom of God one person at a time. We are passionate about loving God, loving people, and following Jesus. Visit www.graceid.org to get involved. Join us on Facebook live Sundays @ 845am MST and 1045am MST and Wednesdays @ 630pm MST at www.facebook.com/gracechurchidaho

Pastor Todd Coconato provides five ways to break free from what he calls "the matrix"—the system of globalists, elites, propaganda, psychological warfare, mainstream media, Hollywood, and social media. He characterizes this system as the "Babylon system" that is constantly inundating believers. Website: www.PastorTodd.org To Give: www.ToddCoconato.com/give The five ways to break free from the matrix: Saturate your mind with the word of God. The world programs the mind, but the Word transforms it. This involves replacing lies with the truth, which sets people free, and daily reading, speaking, meditating on, and praying scripture. The speaker emphasizes that biblical illiteracy is a major problem. Guard your gates. Be disciplined about input, as the enemy programs through entertainment, news, fear, social media, and culture. The speaker references Proverbs 4:23, advising listeners to "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life". He encourages choosing purity over pollution, setting boundaries, and fasting from worldly noise. Walk in the Holy Spirit, not the flesh. The Bible, in Galatians 5:16, says to "Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh". The Holy Spirit reveals truth, breaks strongholds, and provides discernment and wisdom, which is necessary to avoid manipulation. This involves testing the spirits and confirming them against God's word. Submit to Christ's lordship, not the world's agenda. Freedom comes when Jesus is Lord, not just Savior. Citing John 8:36, the speaker states, "If the son of man makes you free, you shall be free indeed". Breaking the matrix occurs when you stop agreeing with culture and start obeying Christ. Practice spiritual warfare. This means destroying false beliefs at the root using God's power. The speaker cites 2 Corinthians 10:4–5, noting that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty... For pulling down strongholds". This is done by rebuking lies, casting down imaginations, declaring God's word, and taking thoughts captive to Christ. The speaker concludes by encouraging viewers to walk in the freedom of the Lord. He states that the kingdom of God awakens, strengthens, renews, and sets you free, in contrast to the world's matrix, which wants to numb, distract, conform, deceive, and control. Freedom is found in surrender to Jesus.   At the end of the video, he mentions he has a forthcoming book called The Isaiah Blueprint, which explains how to survive the current times based on what God has shown him in the book of Isaiah.

The seed and the sower parable from Jesus has a lot to teach about being fruitful for the Kingdom of God.

We don't just buy things—we're being formed by them. Formed to fear running out. Formed to hold tighter. Formed to believe there's never quite enough. In this discussion, we look at the deeper story underneath our consumer habits—and why Scripture frames scarcity not just as an economic issue, but a spiritual one. From Pharaoh's Egypt to the manna in the wilderness to the words of Jesus, we explore the contrast between two kingdoms: one built on hoarding and control, and one marked by trust, provision, and freedom. This message invites us to consider how scarcity quietly enslaves us—and how the kingdom of God offers a different way to live: open-handed, generous, and free, even in a world constantly shouting “more.”

Today’s Topics: 1) Gospel – Matthew 21:28-32 – Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion?  A man had two sons.  He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'  The son said in reply, ‘I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went.  The man came to the other son and gave the same order.  He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,' but did not go.  Which of the two did his father's will?”  They answered, “The first.”  Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you.  When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did.  Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.” Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2, 3, 4) Terry Interviews Robert Orlando on his book: Karl Marx: The Divine Tragedy (TAN Books)

It can be challenging to want to go out of your way to be kind to people on the days when you're annoyed, in a bad mood, or are having a bad day… So, how do we not let our kindness to others depend on our moods? How do we always be kind, regardless of how we're feeling?Let's talk about 3 ways to be exceptionally kind (even when you don't feel like it.) We'll also give you a list of practical, simple ways to show kindness in your everyday life.We can guarantee your life will benefit because of your kindness!Send us a text! We would love to hear from you! Uncover your God-given gifts, declare His truth over your life, defeat imposter syndrome, and grow the Kingdom of God as you walk confidently in your calling.These workbooks include daily Scripture, guided reflection prompts, & journaling space to help you hear from God and apply His Word in every area of your life.Grab your Workbooks HERE.Or you can DM us "Workbook" on Instagram!  To check out the Wellness Store, go to @Jordan_Vesper and DM the word "Wellness". I'd love to share more about the store with you. Support the showOur new Instagram name is @WithinHerSoulMinistries if you want to connect with us! Check out all our Spiritual Growth Resources at withinhersoul.org Resources for New Christians: - Study Bible to help you understand the Word - Find a Church near you

On today's Flyover Conservatives Show, we sit down with Pedro Adao to ask a question most Christians have never seriously explored: why did Jesus really come? Pedro challenges common assumptions, unpacking the difference between religion and the Kingdom Jesus actually preached. This conversation reframes purpose, responsibility, and what it means to bring heaven to earth in everyday life.On today's Flyover Conservatives Show, we sit down with Pedro Adao to ask a question most Christians have never seriously explored: why did Jesus really come? Pedro challenges common assumptions, unpacking the difference between religion and the Kingdom Jesus actually preached. This conversation reframes purpose, responsibility, and what it means to bring heaven to earth in everyday life.TO WATCH ALL FLYOVER CONTENT: www.theflyoverapp.comTO WATCH ALL FLYOVER CONTENT: www.theflyoverapp.comFollow and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFlyoverConservativesShow Follow and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFlyoverConservativesShow Pedro AdaoPedro Adao31 Day Wisdom Challenge: www.31daywisdomchallenge.com 31 Day Wisdom Challenge: www.31daywisdomchallenge.comwww.31daywisdomchallenge.com X: https://x.com/pedromadao X: https://x.com/pedromadaohttps://x.com/pedromadao WEBSITE: https://pedroadao.com/ WEBSITE: https://pedroadao.com/Send us a message... we can't reply, but we read them all!Support the show► ReAwaken America- text the word FLYOVER to 918-851-0102 (Message and data rates may apply. Terms/privacy: 40509-info.com) ► Kirk Elliott PHD - http://FlyoverGold.com ► My Pillow - https://MyPillow.com/Flyover ► ALL LINKS: https://sociatap.com/FlyoverConservatives

Romans 9:4-5 — What is a covenant? In this sermon on Romans 9:4-5 titled “God's Covenants,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that it is vital to come to a right understanding of the nature of biblical covenants in order to understand the gospel. He says that a covenant in the Bible is not an ordinary agreement between two people, but it is first and foremost something God does. It is not a bargain between humanity and God, but it is something instituted by God. This is seen in the case of Abraham when it is God who makes the terms of the covenant and it is God who upholds the covenant. What does this mean for one's understanding of Jesus? Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all of God's covenantal promises and He is the one who established the new covenant on His last night with His disciples. It is this new covenant that brings salvation because it is established by Christ Jesus shedding His blood upon the cross for all who are His. Those who believe in the message of Jesus are made members of the new covenant and inheritors of eternal life and the kingdom of God, as all blessings come through Jesus Christ. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

Tithing means we write a check to the church for 10% of our income, right?? Is this what the Bible actually says to is tithing is something bigger - something more intentional?  On today's podcast we are going to turn off the autopilot on our bank accounts and embrace the invitation to partner with God in ruling our resources.  Outpost Advisor - Schedule a call: https://www.outpostadvisors.net/schedule-a-call  About Abraham's Wallet: Abraham's Wallet exists to inspire and equip Biblical family leaders. Please partner with us in inspiring and equipping multi-gen families at https://abrahamswallet.com/support AW website Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Chapters (00:00:00) - Take Back Your Money From the Bank(00:00:24) - Abraham's Wallet(00:01:05) - A Quick, Quick Financial Checkup With a Client(00:05:27) - Give Today: Pro-life Issues(00:06:58) - Abraham on the Tithing(00:07:58) - Give Back to God(00:13:04) - How to Give to the Kingdom of God (3 Missions)(00:19:04) - The Truth of Tithing(00:24:55) - Tithing in the Life of God(00:29:52) - There Was a Special Tithing For The Levites(00:34:09) - The Levites and Their Tithing(00:38:46) - Tithing: A Math Problem(00:42:43) - 3% of my Money to Family Worship(00:45:40) - Tithing in the New Covenant