Podcasts about preachers

On today's episode, James sits down with Pastor Jimmy Williams, the Giant Preacher, with a Dwayne sighting, vacuum-fueled hibernation and harvest festivaling in the green room, and a "stone the crows" lyric from Joseph before they land on anger. They start with a Science Alert piece showing that venting and punching bags don't reduce anger. From there it's Jimmy's own anger-management story after a motorcycle brain injury, cognitive behavioral therapy, and a caution on yoga from Matthew 12 and Ratzinger: clear the mind, then fill it with the Spirit, not nothingness. They draw the line between righteous indignation and sinful wrath with the Didache, the money-changers cheating pilgrims at the temple, David venting to God in the Psalms, and Robert Duvall's night prayer in The Apostle that stopped short of forgiveness. The second half runs CBT through timber rattlers and cottonmouth myths, the Holy Spirit as the Christian difference, Glenn's Cyberbeast road rage and "let Jesus solve it," James's legal-assistant scare and rose-bush "mosquito" drill, a fake-temper cat-litter toe, Patton-style coaching indignation, and Dwayne's count of 228 anger passages in the Old Testament against 4 in the New. It all lands on Ephesians 4:26–27: be angry and sin not, and don't let the sun go down on the cause. Then a full PJ's Coffee Exit 33 plug for a peaceful place to pray it out. Don't miss it!

What If Today Were Your Last Day?Hebrews 9:27: And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgmentIf you knew today was the last day of your life, what would matter most? Would it be the money in your bank account? The promotion you've been chasing? The house you've worked so hard to buy? The number of followers on your social media? Or would your thoughts immediately turn to your family… Your relationships… Your unfinished conversations… And most importantly… Your relationship with God?Join Life's Word Academy: https://tinyurl.com/lifeswordacademyAccept Jesus today. https://youtube.com/shorts/bIwAUlz7Kg4?si=BNOhv44iLWIR4eVJIf you would like to accept Jesus into your heart today, pray this simple prayer:****God, I have sinned against You. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, who died and rose for my sake. I ask you to forgive me for my sin. I place my trust in You for salvation. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I am forgiven! Amen!****Congratulations! You are now a child of the Most High. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."****If you just prayed this prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, I welcome you to the family of God. Subscribe to my channel and type in the comments right now, “I just prayed that prayer.”****Click here for FREE eBook download: https://tinyurl.com/ISAIDTHEPRAYERShow your love and support the channel:*PayPal: PayPal.me/malachimitchellministry*Cash App: https://cash.app/$MalachiMitchNote Journals and Puzzles:https://tinyurl.com/WalkinFaithPublishingAuthored Books: https://tinyurl.com/PastorMalachiBooksHNO Crypto Coin Investing Opportunity: https://tinyurl.com/HNOCoin-ReferralFREE Ways to Support Me:

“Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” (John 4:48) *Jesus tells a nobleman that people will not believe unless shown miraculous signs and wonders. Crrow777“Is accepting that you are not done at death an indicator of one's spiritual development and level?” This episode covers the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda If the Sun is not alive and conscious, then how can it make life possible, and maintain life? Likewise, if a Minister, Preacher, or other spiritual leader has had no spiritual realization or experience, how can they lead or guide the spiritual path of another? My early spiritual path consisted of visiting a 501 (c)(3) (church) once a week for an hour or two, where I was told the same stories over and over, and taught that what I believe is the thing that matters. What I was not taught is that, like every other thing of value in this world, spiritual attainment requires hard work. It took me years of researching other spiritual traditions and older versions of Christianity to learn that there is much more to spiritual progress than believing – and it entails work. Hard work that requires dedication, guidance, and learning over a lifetime, for most of us. (Read more…)

​With the baseball playoffs underway, don't miss a "Best of Chris Fabry Live" conversation with a man who's lived many highs and lows. From being a Major League All-Star to doing prison time. Untold wealth to drug addiction. Even cancer. Darryl Strawberry talks about the transforming power of God's love that changed him from the inside out. Can the same thing happen to you or someone you love? Don't miss Chris Fabry Live. Featured resources:Turn Your Season Around: How God Transforms Your Life by Darryl StrawberryAnother Life: Discovering the Healing Power of Purpose on My Long Journey from Player to Preacher by Darryl Strawberry September thank you gift:Resolve Conflict and Find Peace and Hope with Adult Children by Kathy Koch Chris Fabry Live is listener-supported. To support the program, click here.Become a Back Fence Partner: https://moodyradio.org/donateto/chrisfabrylive/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Narrow Road Still Exists He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6)Many people want Jesus as Savior. Far fewer want Him as Lord. The narrow road requires us to lay down our pride. Our sin. Our self-rule. Our own definitions of right and wrong.Join Life's Word Academy: https://tinyurl.com/lifeswordacademyAccept Jesus today. https://youtube.com/shorts/bIwAUlz7Kg4?si=BNOhv44iLWIR4eVJIf you would like to accept Jesus into your heart today, pray this simple prayer:****God, I have sinned against You. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, who died and rose for my sake. I ask you to forgive me for my sin. I place my trust in You for salvation. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I am forgiven! Amen!****Congratulations! You are now a child of the Most High. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."****If you just prayed this prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, I welcome you to the family of God. Subscribe to my channel and type in the comments right now, “I just prayed that prayer.”****Click here for FREE eBook download: https://tinyurl.com/ISAIDTHEPRAYERShow your love and support the channel:*PayPal: PayPal.me/malachimitchellministry*Cash App: https://cash.app/$MalachiMitchNote Journals and Puzzles:https://tinyurl.com/WalkinFaithPublishingAuthored Books: https://tinyurl.com/PastorMalachiBooksHNO Crypto Coin Investing Opportunity: https://tinyurl.com/HNOCoin-ReferralFREE Ways to Support Me:

Good morning! Happy Wednesday... (smiling)! This here is

Howdy my friend, abundant blessings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Here is

A Diverse Unity - Church shaped by God's Word Sermon 4 - Church and orderly oversight 1 Timothy 2:9-3:7 Sunday 27th September 2026 Dave Brown preaching

The Sin We No Longer Call Sin Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"We are living in a time when what God calls holy is often mocked… And what God calls sinful is often applauded. Right is called wrong. Wrong is called right. Truth is dismissed as intolerance. Holiness is labeled outdated. Conviction is mistaken for judgment.Join Life's Word Academy: https://tinyurl.com/lifeswordacademyAccept Jesus today. https://youtube.com/shorts/bIwAUlz7Kg4?si=BNOhv44iLWIR4eVJIf you would like to accept Jesus into your heart today, pray this simple prayer:****God, I have sinned against You. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, who died and rose for my sake. I ask you to forgive me for my sin. I place my trust in You for salvation. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I am forgiven! Amen!****Congratulations! You are now a child of the Most High. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."****If you just prayed this prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, I welcome you to the family of God. Subscribe to my channel and type in the comments right now, “I just prayed that prayer.”****Click here for FREE eBook download: https://tinyurl.com/ISAIDTHEPRAYERShow your love and support the channel:*PayPal: PayPal.me/malachimitchellministry*Cash App: https://cash.app/$MalachiMitchNote Journals and Puzzles:https://tinyurl.com/WalkinFaithPublishingAuthored Books: https://tinyurl.com/PastorMalachiBooksHNO Crypto Coin Investing Opportunity: https://tinyurl.com/HNOCoin-ReferralFREE Ways to Support Me:

Season 8 of A Very Merry Iconic Podcast will return with new episode in 2026! Tune in late October for a Halloween recap, then join us in November for a new season of Christmas movie recaps! This year, Hannah Aaron Brown will be joining the fun (former co-host Jenna Brister will pop by when she can!), to recap Practical Magic 2, The Preacher's Wife, Die Hard, Frosty the Snowman, Holiday in Handcuffs, and more! Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/averymerryiconicpodcast ! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the role of white women in Christian Nationalism? With the author of Live Laugh Love and Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Kobes Du Mez. More about Dr. Du Mez and her incredible work and books: https://kristindumez.com The MUCH anticipated new book from professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez is here: Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World they Made. It is something of a companion to her NYT bestseller, Jesus and John Wayne. Whereas Jesus and John Wayne took a look at the roots and creation of an idolatrous vision of Jesus as ruggedly masculine and pro-Christian Nationalism, this book looks at the parallel process for women -- and this glittering, seductively saccharine world that is prone to abuse and manipulation. It was, as she said, "supposed to be fun." But it turned in something far more sinister. Listen in for more.  +++ Like what you hear? We are an entirely crowd-sourced, you-funded project.  SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/AndAlsoWithYouPodcast There's all kinds of perks including un-aired live episodes, Zoom retreats, and mailbag episodes for our Patreons! +++ Our Website: https://andalsowithyoupod.com Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andalsowithyoupodcast/ ++++ MERCH: https://www.bonfire.com/store/and-also-with-you-the-podcast/ ++++ More about Father Lizzie: BOOK: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/762683/god-didnt-make-us-to-hate-us-by-rev-lizzie-mcmanus-dail/ RevLizzie.com https://www.instagram.com/rev.lizzie/ https://www.tiktok.com/@rev.lizzie Jubilee Episcopal Church in Austin, TX - JubileeATX.org  ++++ More about Mother Laura: https://www.instagram.com/laura.peaches/ https://www.tiktok.com/@mother_peaches St. Brendan's Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA - https://www.stbrendans.org ++++ Theme music: "On Our Own Again" by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). New episodes drop Mondays at 7am EST/6am CST! 

*This Episode was originally published on 08/05/2019. This week, I welcome Greg Gilbert to the podcast to discuss the Christian’s Assurance. The post The Pastor and the Christian's Assurance appeared first on Preaching and Preachers Institute.

God bless you dear friend, good morning! Hope your week will be fine. Amen. This here is

Hold on to your pulpits this week, preachers! The Gospel is one of the hardest parables in Matthew — and one with the most difficult history in Christian preaching. The parable of the wicked tenants has been used, throughout Christian history, to justify the church's replacement of Israel and to fuel centuries of anti-Jewish violence, from medieval pogroms through Nazi propaganda. Preachers must handle it with unusual care.Track One brings us the Ten Commandments at Sinai. Track Two brings us Isaiah's song of the vineyard — the direct source material for the Gospel parable. The Epistle gives us Paul's autobiographical turn: whatever gains I had, I count as loss for Christ.For preachers continuing a series: last week's parable of the two sons exposed the yes that did not go. This week's parable of the wicked tenants exposes what happens when tenants forget they are tenants. The Matthew arc keeps sharpening toward the passion.The ReadingsExodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20First Reading (Track One) — The Ten CommandmentsSummaryGod speaks to Moses at Sinai. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Then the commandments: no other gods. No idols. No misusing God's name. Remember the sabbath and rest. Honor your father and mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor. When the people see the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they tremble and stand at a distance. They tell Moses: “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses reassures them: God has come to test you, so that the fear of God may be with you and keep you from sinning.Key Ideas for Preaching* The commandments begin with a verb about God, not a demand of the people. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out.” Deliverance comes first; then the shape of life among the delivered. What might your sermon do with the specific order — grace before command — that most preachers know but many congregations have never actually heard?* The commandments protect people. Do not murder protects human life. Do not steal protects property. Do not bear false witness protects reputation and truth. Do not covet protects the heart from unrest. These are not arbitrary rules; they are the shape of a community where life can flourish. Where in your congregation have the commandments been imagined as arbitrary restrictions when they are actually protections?* “You speak to us, but do not let God speak to us” — the people's request captures a real spiritual pattern. We often prefer mediated religion to direct encounter. What might it look like to preach a God who is willing to be heard directly, and to name the tender fear that keeps us at a distance?Significant Cautions* Do not preach the commandments as if the whole ethical life of the church can be reduced to ten rules. Jesus himself will summarize them in two.* The lectionary omits verses 5–6 (the “jealous God” verses). Preachers should know what has been omitted and decide honestly whether to preach the whole passage or just the assigned selection.* The commandments have often been misused as a checklist for civic religion. Handle their communal, covenantal context carefully.Psalm 19The Psalm (Track One) — The Heavens Are TellingSummary“The heavens are telling the glory of God.” The psalm begins with creation's silent praise — day pours out speech to day — and moves to the law: perfect, reviving the soul; sure, making wise the simple. The psalm closes with a prayer against hidden faults and presumption, and the famous closing petition: let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm links creation and law in the same song. The heavens declare God's glory; God's word revives the soul. Both are revelation. Where has your congregation imagined creation and Scripture as competing sources of knowing God, when the psalm holds them together?* “Clear me from hidden faults” — the psalmist prays not for the sins he can see but for the ones he cannot. What might your sermon do with a spiritual practice that includes asking God to name what we are not yet aware of?Significant Cautions* “The heavens declare the glory of God” has been misused in the culture wars around science. The psalm is not a scientific claim; it is doxology.Isaiah 5:1–7First Reading (Track Two) — The Song of the VineyardSummaryThe prophet sings a love song about his beloved's vineyard. God did everything for the vineyard — dug it, cleared it of stones, planted choice vines, built a watchtower, hewed a wine vat. And expected grapes. But the vineyard yielded wild grapes. So God will remove its hedge, break down its wall, make it a waste. The song ends with the interpretation: “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!”Key Ideas for Preaching* The prophet's judgment on Israel is Israel's own prophet speaking within Israel's tradition. This is not an outside voice condemning God's people. This is Isaiah's love for his people speaking hard truth. What might it look like to preach a prophetic word that comes from love rather than distance?* The wordplay in Hebrew is untranslatable but worth naming. God expected mishpat (justice) but saw mispach (bloodshed); God expected tsedaqah (righteousness) but heard tse'aqah (a cry). Justice and bloodshed sound alike. Righteousness and outcry sound alike. Only one letter apart. What might your sermon do with the closeness of what God wanted and what God got?* Isaiah 5 is the direct source for today's Gospel parable of the tenants. Jesus is not inventing a new critique; he is quoting Israel's own prophet. Where in your congregation might people be helped by hearing that Jesus's hardest words about religious leadership are drawn from Israel's own tradition of self-critique?Significant Cautions* This passage should not be read as evidence that God has rejected Israel. Isaiah's critique is a call to return, not a decree of replacement.* “He expected justice but saw bloodshed” has been quoted in ways that reduce injustice to individual sin. Isaiah is naming systemic failure of leadership, not simply personal wrongdoing.Psalm 80:7–15The Psalm (Track Two) — The Vine You Brought Out of EgyptSummaryAnother vineyard psalm. God brought a vine out of Egypt, drove out the nations, and planted it. It sent out its branches to the sea, its shoots to the river. But now its walls are broken down and passersby pluck its fruit. “Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted.”Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm imagines God as the planter and Israel as the tended vine. It is a picture of intimate care — God's own right hand doing the planting. What might your sermon do with a picture of God's investment in the people that is this personal?* “Turn again, O God” is a psalm of return — not the people's return to God, but a prayer that God will turn back toward them. What might it look like to preach a faith that includes asking God to notice again, when God's face seems turned away?Significant Cautions* This psalm's laments have sometimes been used to shame communities into thinking their difficulties are always God's judgment. Not all suffering is discipline.Philippians 3:4b–14The Epistle — I Count It All as LossSummaryPaul lists his credentials. Circumcised on the eighth day. Of the people of Israel. Tribe of Benjamin. Hebrew of Hebrews. A Pharisee. A persecutor of the church — by which he means he was zealous. Blameless under the law. Then the turn: whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. He counts everything as rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. He wants to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, the sharing of his sufferings. Not that he has already obtained this or reached the goal, but he presses on to make it his own, because Christ Jesus has made him his own. Forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, he presses on toward the goal.Key Ideas for Preaching* Paul's list of credentials is not fabrication. He really did have every advantage of Jewish religious life in the first century. He is not saying his credentials were worthless in themselves. He is saying that compared to knowing Christ, they are loss. Where in your congregation has this passage been read as if Paul were dismissing Jewish life? Preach it more honestly.* Paul's word for what he considers his gains to be is stronger than “rubbish.” In Greek it means excrement — the kind of language you would not read from the pulpit lightly. Paul is being deliberately shocking. What is your sermon doing to hold the shock of this passage rather than sanitizing it?* “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal” — Paul refuses spiritual complacency. He has been at this for years, and still he presses on. What might it look like to preach a mature Christian life that includes this specific refusal of arrival?Significant Cautions* Paul is not rejecting Jewish life. He is naming his own reordering of priorities. Do not preach this passage as if Judaism were the enemy Paul overcame; that reading has caused enormous harm.* “Forgetting what lies behind” has been misused to shame people who need to process their past. Paul is talking about not resting on his own credentials, not about pretending painful history did not happen.Matthew 21:33–46The Gospel — The Wicked TenantsSummaryJesus tells another parable in the temple. A landowner plants a vineyard, puts a fence around it, digs a wine press, builds a watchtower, and leases it to tenants before going away. When harvest time comes, he sends slaves to collect his share of the fruit. The tenants beat one slave, kill another, and stone another. He sends more slaves; they do the same. Finally he sends his son, thinking “they will respect my son.” The tenants say, “This is the heir; let us kill him and get his inheritance.” They seize him, throw him out of the vineyard, and kill him. Jesus asks: what will the owner do to those tenants? The audience answers: he will put them to a miserable death and give the vineyard to others. Jesus responds by quoting Psalm 118: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” He tells them: the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The chief priests and Pharisees realize he is speaking about them but are afraid to arrest him because of the crowds.Key Ideas for Preaching* This is one of the parables most badly used in Christian history. It has been read as “God took the kingdom from the Jews and gave it to the Christians” — a reading that has fueled centuries of anti-Jewish violence. But the parable is not aimed at “the Jews” as a people. It is aimed at specific religious leaders in Jerusalem who have failed in their role. What might it look like to preach this passage without the supersessionist reading that has haunted the church for two thousand years?* The parable draws directly from Isaiah 5's song of the vineyard. Jesus is not inventing a new attack; he is speaking in Israel's own prophetic tradition. This is Israel's own prophet speaking Israel's own hard truth to Israel's own leadership. Where might your sermon make this connection explicit, so that the parable's real target — failed leadership — becomes clearer than the Christian misreading has allowed?* The tenants' fundamental problem is that they forgot they were tenants. They started acting as if the vineyard belonged to them. When the owner's son came, they killed him for the inheritance. What might your sermon do with a picture of religious leadership — or of Christian life generally — that reminds people they are stewards, not owners?* The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. That reversal is not simply about Jesus. It is about a pattern: what the systems of power reject, God builds on. Where in your congregation might people be helped by hearing that God's building materials are often the ones religious leadership has thrown out?Significant Cautions* This is the critical caution for this passage. The parable has been used throughout Christian history to justify anti-Jewish violence — from medieval pogroms to Nazi propaganda. Preachers who do not name this history and preach against it become complicit in it. Handle with utmost care.* “The kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits” has been read as “given to the church instead of Israel.” This is a distortion. The “you” is specific religious leadership; the “people that produces fruits” is not the church replacing Israel but any community that lives faithfully.* The parable ends with the crowd protecting Jesus from arrest. This detail is often overlooked. It is precisely “the crowds” — the people, largely Jewish — who are Jesus's protection here. Do not read this as “the Jews were all against Jesus.”Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the natural center — and it is one of the most difficult parables in Matthew. The three other readings, in different ways, deepen its themes without letting it be reduced to the supersessionist reading that has haunted Christian history.Track One's Ten Commandments give us the shape of life for a community that has been delivered. The commandments are not the vineyard's product; they are the trellis on which the fruit is meant to grow. Preachers can name this pairing: the commandments are what God expected the tenants to steward.Track Two's Isaiah 5 is the direct source material for the Gospel parable. Reading them together makes clear that Jesus is not inventing a new critique of Israel — he is quoting Israel's own prophet. That connection alone can inoculate the sermon against the supersessionist reading.Philippians 3 sits inside the day as Paul's own reordering of what counts. Paul has all the credentials the wicked tenants would have envied — he was a Pharisee, blameless under the law. And he now counts it all as loss for Christ. That is not a rejection of Jewish life; it is a specific spiritual reorientation. Paul, of all people, would not have preached the supersessionist reading of Matthew 21.For preachers continuing a series: last week's parable of the two sons exposed the yes that did not go. This week's parable of the wicked tenants exposes what happens when tenants forget they are tenants. The Matthew arc keeps sharpening toward Holy Week. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

Philippians 4:4-7Series: Christian LivingPreacher: Jake RiznerCongregational MeetingDate: 27th September 2026Passage: Philippians 4:4-7

Dear friends in Christ, welcome to this podcast from All Saints Episcopal Church in Portland. All Saints is a loving, welcoming parish serving Southeast Portland for over a century. Our purpose is to celebrate God's love, seek and serve Christ in all persons, and go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit!Today, we invite you to join parishioner Alan Murray - licensed lay preacher in the Diocese of Oregon - as he preaches the gospel, and explores the mysteries of God in our modern world.

A message that contrasts the difference of the noise of Pentecost with the noise of Heaven, of hell and of the world and how we need the right kind of noise.FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/@GraceStreetChurchofGod/videos

Good morning, and happy first day of the week. Hope your week is fruitful for the kingdom of heaven. Here is

This Sunday Worship episode features dynamic Pastors, Preachers and Reverends that speak truth to power and wake us up. I capture these Sermons from various sources to share as our Church On-Line that I started back during 2020 shutdown. I captured Rev. Al Sharpton sermon he gave before his planned March On Washing this past September 2026.   Sunday Worship Song Choice is Peace Leave Your Email Hit Subscribe Youtube Channel  Oldskoolqueene Youtube Channel    

God bless you friend, thank you for giving your life to serve. Here is

The Teacher and the Preacher is a weekly radio program--hosted by Dave McGarrah,  Pastor at Deer Flat Church in Caldwell, Idaho, and Aaron Lipkin from Israel--that airs each Sunday at 10:30 am and 7:30 pm here  94.5 FM and 790 AM on KSPD Boise's Solid Talk.They are a unique phenomenon on the airwaves – a Christian and a Jew in an ongoing dialogue – celebrating the many commonalities but never shying away from the differences. They offer their listeners insights into each other's faiths that don't come up much elsewhere, that can only come through sincere conversation. The weekly discussion is more than a program about a topic; it's a demonstration of how God can bring two people together from 9,000 miles away to bridge the differences, learn from each other, and strengthen their own faiths.If you would like to learn more about this fantastic radio ministry, please visit their website at theteacherandthepreacher.com.Podcast Website: https://www.790kspd.com/the-teacher-and-the-preacher/

What It Really Means to RepentActs 3:19: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Repentance may be one of the most misunderstood words in Christianity today.Join Life's Word Academy: https://tinyurl.com/lifeswordacademyAccept Jesus today. https://youtube.com/shorts/bIwAUlz7Kg4?si=BNOhv44iLWIR4eVJIf you would like to accept Jesus into your heart today, pray this simple prayer:****God, I have sinned against You. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, who died and rose for my sake. I ask you to forgive me for my sin. I place my trust in You for salvation. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I am forgiven! Amen!****Congratulations! You are now a child of the Most High. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."****If you just prayed this prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, I welcome you to the family of God. Subscribe to my channel and type in the comments right now, “I just prayed that prayer.”****Click here for FREE eBook download: https://tinyurl.com/ISAIDTHEPRAYERShow your love and support the channel:*PayPal: PayPal.me/malachimitchellministry*Cash App: https://cash.app/$MalachiMitchNote Journals and Puzzles:https://tinyurl.com/WalkinFaithPublishingAuthored Books: https://tinyurl.com/PastorMalachiBooksHNO Crypto Coin Investing Opportunity: https://tinyurl.com/HNOCoin-ReferralFREE Ways to Support Me:

Today we continue with open calls and Sneaky's bizarre behavior, as well as open calls on almost any topics and a random assortment of clips and nonsense to react to! Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Merch https://dyermerch.store Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join Song: https://youtu.be/vfaOdd7Q3ss Support my work via Bitcoin here! bc1q07n9qqsvcx33yz6z8xj6meupqxxug9n55zzhqd Get started with Bitcoin at River using my referral: https://river.com/invite?r=E2N63TGXBQ Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY60LIFE for 60% off now https://choq.com Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Music by Dr Evo the Producer, Jay Dyer and Amid the Ruins 1453 https://www.youtube.com/@amidtheruinsOVERHAULBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

Today we continue with open calls and Sneaky's bizarre behavior, as well as open calls on almost any topics and a random assortment of clips and nonsense to react to! Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Merch https://dyermerch.store Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join Song: https://youtu.be/vfaOdd7Q3ss Support my work via Bitcoin here! bc1q07n9qqsvcx33yz6z8xj6meupqxxug9n55zzhqd Get started with Bitcoin at River using my referral: https://river.com/invite?r=E2N63TGXBQ Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY60LIFE for 60% off now https://choq.com Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Music by Dr Evo the Producer, Jay Dyer and Amid the Ruins 1453 https://www.youtube.com/@amidtheruinsOVERHAULBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

Remember group projects? There was the partner who vanished, the one who did all the work, and the crush that made everything complicated. Community can feel the same way: a room full of people you didn't pick and can't control. So what do you do when belonging gets messy? Kicking off our fall series Hot Takes, [Preacher] opens Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth. That was a small, status-conscious community already at odds with itself. Before Paul corrects anyone, he says thank you. This message explores why grace and gratitude, not flawless performance, are what actually hold people together. It also shares how two frustrating grad school partners turned into some of life's most unexpected gifts. Listen if you've ever wanted to quit a group, or a church. Then ask yourself: who's someone you need to thank this week?

00:00:00 Ecclesiastes 1 – All is vanity00:02:17 Ecclesiastes 2 – Wisdom and folly00:06:27 Ecclesiastes 3 – A time to every purpose00:09:03 Ecclesiastes 4 – Oppressions and envy00:11:13 Ecclesiastes 5 – Vanities in divine service00:14:06 Ecclesiastes 6 – Vanity of riches00:15:50 Ecclesiastes 7 – Remedies against vanity00:19:13 Ecclesiastes 8 – Kings to be respected00:21:57 Ecclesiastes 9 – Like things happen to all00:25:04 Ecclesiastes 10 – Wisdom and folly00:27:28 Ecclesiastes 11 – Directions for charity00:28:56 Ecclesiastes 12 – The Preacher's care

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 24th of September, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in 1 Corinthians 7:24: “Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.” Then we go to 1 Timothy 6:6: ‘Now godliness with contentment is great gain.' Paul was saying to the believers, you don't have to be circumcised to be a follower of Christ, you can remain in the state you are. In other words, if you are uncircumcised when you meet the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, you don't have to go and get circumcised. No, you can remain the way you are. Don't try and be somebody you are not. Rather, remain the person that God called you to be and created you to be. Be content. I see so many people who are not happy with the way they are. There are big, stout ladies who want to be skinny. There are skinny ladies who want to be stout. There are men with curly black hair who want straight, blonde hair. I am laughing, but it is so true, isn't it? We are not content with where we are at. Paul says, “Let each one remain with God in the state in which they are.” Casting Crowns is one of my favourite Gospel bands. Don't quote me, but I think for the last 20 years, they have been the top Christian band in the world. Now, the man who leads it is a man by the name of Mark Hall. Mark Hall, folks, has dyslexia. He had that Attention Deficit at school. He couldn't concentrate on anything, and basically they thought he had no future. I want to tell you, when that man sings, I normally cry. He has given God what he has got, and God has taken it and used it.What about DL Moody, one of the greatest evangelists who has ever lived? He went to Britain for a few years and over 2 million converts came to Christ through his ministry. He struggled to speak English with a good accent. What about C. H. Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”? He had no education. He had a very broad country accent, and yet folks, at the age of 21, they built the London Tabernacle for him to contain the crowds that were coming to hear him preach.Today, you and I, let us be very grateful and content with the way God has made us, because if He has made us, and He has, He will also see us through. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.Goodbye.

Why Jesus Began With One Word, RepentMatthew 4:17 "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."The first message Jesus preached is still the message the world desperately needs to hear today.Join Life's Word Academy: https://tinyurl.com/lifeswordacademyAccept Jesus today. https://youtube.com/shorts/bIwAUlz7Kg4?si=BNOhv44iLWIR4eVJIf you would like to accept Jesus into your heart today, pray this simple prayer:****God, I have sinned against You. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, who died and rose for my sake. I ask you to forgive me for my sin. I place my trust in You for salvation. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I am forgiven! Amen!****Congratulations! You are now a child of the Most High. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."****If you just prayed this prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, I welcome you to the family of God. Subscribe to my channel and type in the comments right now, “I just prayed that prayer.”****Click here for FREE eBook download: https://tinyurl.com/ISAIDTHEPRAYERShow your love and support the channel:*PayPal: PayPal.me/malachimitchellministry*Cash App: https://cash.app/$MalachiMitchNote Journals and Puzzles:https://tinyurl.com/WalkinFaithPublishingAuthored Books: https://tinyurl.com/PastorMalachiBooksHNO Crypto Coin Investing Opportunity: https://tinyurl.com/HNOCoin-ReferralFREE Ways to Support Me:

Season 7, Episode 5 | Pastor Chad sits down with returning guest Pete Lindskoog, a pilot whose family story includes missionary work in Ecuador. They talk about surrender, calling, and keeping the focus on Christ, then continue through 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.

On today's episode, James sits down with Pastor Jimmy Williams—the Giant Preacher—for a no-notes deep dive on the Trinity that starts with ragweed, seminary reading loads, and a Tesla near-miss that left James winging it from the farm truck. From Nicaea and the Constantinopolitan Creed through Apocrypha fights, Jerome, and why quoting Maccabees isn't the same as Scripture, Jimmy walks logos, Ruach HaKodesh, Arianism, Jehovah's Witnesses, modalism, and docetism—while James presses Moses' glowing face, the right hand of the Father, divine council language, and whether you pray to saints or ask living saints to pray for you. Second half swings into angels, African motorcycle ministry asks, and a Kenneth Copeland “assign your angels” read that Jimmy calls straight paganism—then a chair-and-grace wrap and a full PJ's Coffee plug off Exit 33 in Haughton. Don't miss it!

AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports Pope Leo XIV is praising a popular U.S. television preacher Archbishop Fulton Sheen as an inspiration, on the eve of his beatification.

God Empowers the Weak (6) (audio) David Eells, 9/23/26  Saints, we are weak as we walk by faith in God's promises. Then His power is ours.  We know that spiritual Jews in this New Covenant are the ones who walk in the faith of Abraham. You can't recognize the Jew according to the flesh anymore; it's whether they are a believer or not. It's according to your faith or your unbelief as to whether you're grafted in or broken off according to Romans 11. If you have faith, you're a child and have a right to the children's bread. The world has no right to the children's bread because they are not in Covenant with God. Our part of the Covenant is faith. God's part is supply. We enter into it by faith and God enters into it with supply. I'll show you a few more verses so we can see if this is the Covenant people or the world who's getting healed or delivered here. Now remember what Jesus believed. He showed you His doctrine: that He didn't come to the lost people; He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). Why did He call them the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”? He called them that because, like sheep, Israel had gone astray. He wasn't talking about the world there. And just like sheep, Israel in this day has gone astray, too. The Lord told me one time, “I sent you to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He wasn't talking about physical Israel; He was talking about spiritual Israel, the lost sheep, because they are lambs who have lost their way. The Way is the Word. In fact, in the Book of Acts, they called it the Way (Acts 9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22). It is a Way. We're supposed to be walking on the Way of Jesus' steps. 1Jn 2:6  he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.  (Mat.8:16) And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word (Matthew is talking about the children here), and healed all that were sick: (Mat.8:17) that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases. He didn't say, “the world's infirmities”; he said, “our infirmities, and bare our diseases.” Who has the right to deliverance from demons and who has a right to healing? The believers do. They do not. In fact, you don't have a right to give it to them, except by the permission of God. Jesus granted the desire of the Syrophoenician woman because of her profession of faith. Once, I asked God and received permission in a vision to cast a demon out of a lost person.  God does give permission, but He doesn't have to. Here's the difference: God has to give deliverance to somebody who's in Covenant because the Bible says it, and He'd be a liar if He didn't. He has to give all the promises of God. The Bible says all the promises of God are “Yes.” (2Co.1:20) For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us. Some say, “sometimes God says, No,” but if it's concerning a promise to a believer, He says “Yes.” There is no promise in the Bible for deliverance for the world from a demon, even though we can ask God and He might give permission. But we who are in Covenant with God have a guaranteed right to deliverance. The Bible says by His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). It's not even a matter of convincing God; it's an accomplished fact on the cross. It's not as though God is going to change His mind. It's already an accomplished fact on the cross that we were delivered. So, who's He casting these demons out of here, that He says is a fulfillment through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53:4)? If it's a fulfillment of Him taking away our infirmities, then He's talking about deliverance of Covenant people.  Let me give you another verse. When Jesus sent out His disciples, He limited them specifically as to where they were to go. Evangelization is to the world, but we're not talking about evangelization here; we're talking about dealing with “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mat.10:5) These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into [any] way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans. That's those who are not Jews by blood. Or a Samaritan also can be a pagan who's acting like a Christian because of how Samaria was populated. It was populated when God took away the Samaritans by captivity as the northern 10 tribes. He took them away and repopulated their area with pagans (2 Kings 17:24). And when the pagans in Samaria started dying because of the curses of the land (2 Kings 17:25), the prophet said, “Well, it's because they don't know the God of the land.” So then they brought Israelites in there to train these pagans about the God of the land (2 Kings 17:27). That means, amongst the people of God, there are some pagans. They've been trained in Christianity; they know all the lingo, but they're still pagans, not Covenant people. I'm not saying God can't heal them; I'm just saying they're not in Covenant. What would give them covenant rights? FAITH! We need to have discernment and pay attention to what Jesus said. I've had the Lord tell me, “Don't lay hands on that person for healing.” I've had Him tell me, and I thought they were Christians, but God just said, “Don't do it.” I don't know whether it was because they were in willful disobedience and they couldn't be healed because they were in rebellion against God, or whether they weren't in Covenant with God. I don't know; I don't have all the answers. I just know that God has told me not to do that before. But God has healed nonbelievers, and He does it for evangelistic reasons. What I'm saying is there's a difference; the difference is you have no promise, and there's no guarantee. For that, you have to be led of the Spirit. But as a Christian walking by faith in God, repented of your sins and so on and so forth, you're guaranteed to be healed if you will stay in Covenant by faith. Every one of us has to stay in Covenant by our faith. That's what keeps us in Covenant with God. If you don't have faith, you can't have that part of the Covenant. It doesn't matter that you're saved in another part. If you have sozo over here, it doesn't mean you have sozo over there. The Covenant is very big, and the sozo is very big, but you might be able to enter into only parts of it because of your faith. We enter into as much as we can receive through our faith.  (Mat.10:5) These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into [any] way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: (6) but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (7) And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give. He was saying, cast the demons out, but only cast the demons out of Israel. We don't have to think too much about casting demons out. We have another good example from the apostle Paul. (1Co.5:1) It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one [of you] hath his father's wife. (3) For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing, (4) in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, (5) to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Paul turned this man over to the devil for the destruction of his flesh. He used the devil to chasten this guy to bring him to repentance. You would probably waste a lot of breath trying to deliver that guy.  However, let me say that I've also seen that you can cast that demon out and he'll go right back in there. God might honor your faith; the demon may come right out, but he goes around the corner and he's right back in there. (Heb.10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment…. A person who's under a judgment, you can't deliver them. Or, if you do, it won't last. Sometimes God wants to teach you something, so He will permit it to happen, but it won't last. The judgment will be right back. For example, you can pray for somebody and God may heal them. But what they have sown, they are reaping (Galatians 6:7). They have walked in sin and brought a curse upon themselves and you may pray for them, and they may be healed, but it doesn't last. Why? Well, two possible reasons are willful rebellion against God (Hebrews 10:26) or unbelief (Hebrews 3:12). They've never learned to walk by faith for themselves. There are a lot of reasons why people don't keep what God gives them. Let me share an experience I had. In a Pentecostal church, I was filled with the Holy Spirit. My doctrine was wrong, but I was filled with the Holy Spirit; I spoke in tongues, and the gifts were being manifested, but I was caught up in a doctrine of demons, and I converted some people to my doctrine. And one day I ran into a man, Brother Bolivar. We were arguing doctrine back and forth and I was sitting across from him and trying to attack what he was saying. I was involved in “Jesus only,” and that was the Oneness doctrine. We were throwing these verses back and forth, and the Lord just really tricked me. Up to that point, I had been converting people to my doctrine very easily, but this guy was better than I was, and he knew more verses than I did. Every time I threw one argument out there, he had an answer for it. Not only that, but he had an answer for my verse because he had already been in that error. This was the secret. He had an answer for my verse. People are used to fighting like, “I take this group of verses and you take this group,” but brother Bolivar not only had his verses; he was explaining mine.  So the Lord tricked me. The thought came to me, “Well, I'm going to have to set down my doctrine just for a minute. I'm going to have to get around there and look through his eyes and try to see what he sees. If I can do that, I can attack this thing.” This is the thought that came into my mind so clearly. And when I decided, that I was going to do that, a demon went right out of the top of my head. I felt the presence go right out through the top of my head, and I had an instantaneous revelation. And the instantaneous revelation was that Jesus is the Son of God. Not only that, I lost something else when that demon left. I don't know its name; all I know was it was a demon. I  felt its presence go up out of me. Then I also lost a sectarian spirit because we were the most sectarian bunch you'd ever want to run across. It was like, “We're saved, and none of the rest of you are saved. You are all lost. Anyway, that was my experience. My experience since then has been casting some demons out of the flesh of Spirit-filled people.  Let me tell you about Tubby. He was a Spirit-filled brother, and I cast four or five demons out of him. They had even spoken to him before they were cast out. They spoke to him, physically spoke, and physically threw him on the bed; they told him they were going to kill him, and then they turned the stereo on and opened his windows and his doors; physical manifestations were happening in his house from those demons that were in him. Well, Brother Tubby had just gotten saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. He came to my house and told me the story of what was happening. It was awful. And so anyway, to make a long story short, I cast the demons out of him and he was set free. I'll give you another example about this guy named Jim. He'd come to a mission near us. He had gotten saved; in fact, he was so saved that he came in there stoned drunk and became sober immediately when he got saved and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Now one of the deacons of that church was telling me about Jim getting filled with demons, but the deacon himself wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit. So I told him, “If I were you, I'd mind my business until I got filled with the Holy Spirit because you don't want to mess with demons until you get filled with the Holy Spirit.” He didn't pay any attention to me. He went on over there, and he ended up in the hospital because the demons manifested in the guy. They ran that deacon right through one of those thick plate-glass doors. He went through it. He was lying out in the street all cut up, screaming for somebody to get the demons off of him. And a baby Christian walked by and said, “Loose him in the name of Jesus!” And that's how he got free. He cried out to that Christian, “Get these demons off of me!” I personally knew Jim. He was miraculously saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, and this is what happened to the deacon after I told him not to go over there, but he did.  Then the preacher went over there, and with what I found out was his girlfriend- but she was supposed to be his secretary. She went over there with him, and these demons were manifesting in Jim. Did you know demons can actually change your physical appearance? Some of those demons have the ability to make you like a werewolf. Werewolves are not fantasy. And not only that, there are many other manifestations. Some levels of demons have the ability to physically change their appearance.  First, let me tell you what happened to this preacher. This preacher and his girlfriend went in there planning to command the demons to come out, but the demons in Jim ran them out of the building. People shouldn't be in sin if they cast out demons. If the door had still been there, he probably would have run them through the door, but the door was in pieces. He ran them out into the street. So they called me and asked me to come there. I think I was probably the only one there who had any experience in casting out demons. So when I went over there and I walked into the room. The preacher and his secretary were standing at the door, peeking around the corner; they wouldn't even come into the room. When I walked into the room, this guy jumped up, and it was just like he was a big old bear. His eyes were wild, and his features were all contorted. And he came at me. But I just felt the calmness of Jesus was in my heart, and I said, “Sit, in the name of Jesus!” He obeyed me immediately; he sat down just like a whipped little puppy; he just sat there. He was growling at me, making all kinds of noises. As the Lord was giving me word of knowledge concerning the demons, I started calling them out, and then they started giving me their names. They spoke out of him. They asked permission to enter into the secretary, and I told them, “No, you can't,” but then I became suspicious.  When they wanted to enter the secretary and wanted my permission, I figured there was something wrong with her. They were also glorifying the preacher, and I knew something was wrong with him because demons don't like to do that. They just thought he was so great and so wonderful. I later came to find out those two were in fornication. I didn't know it at the time, but I was suspicious that something was wrong. Anyway, I commanded the demons to come out. I think 10 of them came out. One of them asked if he could go into a dog, but I couldn't see a dog in the room. I didn't find out until I left the room that there was a dog on the other side of the wall in the next room. Some lady was visiting her husband in the mission, and she had a little dog there. They all asked to enter into the dog. I said, “No, you enter into the nearest cockroach you can find.” That's what I told them. I don't know whether that's Scriptural or not; I just felt like saying it. There may be a crazy cockroach somewhere. But anyway, they came out giving their names. So because God spoke and told me, “They came in through the TV set,” I asked, “Jim, what were you watching on this TV set?” And he showed me. It was a skin flick he was watching on the TV, and those demons came into this Spirit-filled baby Christian. They came into him because he opened himself up by watching pornographic movies, and I'll tell you, it's a dangerous thing to do. Anyway, I can't explain everything that happened there, but the Lord told me there were two demons left and to leave them. So I left them. The next day we had a church service in that mission, and Jim was there, and he came down for prayer. And the Lord taught me something there because the preacher was one of those who thought if he couldn't knock you out on the floor, there was something wrong with you. So he laid hands on Jim to “slay him in the spirit. I don't know what good that would have done him because he really needed deliverance. I didn't know why God told me to leave the last two demons in there until the next day at this meeting when the Lord showed me something. When the preacher laid hands on Jim and Jim's eyes rolled back in his head, and he started to fall out on the floor, well, the Holy Spirit just took control over me. I reached out my hand, stuck it behind his back, stood him back up and started commanding the demons to come out. I didn't even think about what I was doing, and there was no reasoning in me whatsoever; I just did it. After it was all over, I thought about it, and I said to God, “You don't want everybody so-called ‘slain in the spirit,' do You?” Sometimes it's a hindrance, isn't it? You know, sometimes the devil would rather have you slain in the spirit than the demons be cast out. Don't believe “slain in the spirit” is always God, because it's not. I don't care what they say; it's not always God. He showed me right there because it was not my thinking or my ingenuity that did that. God stood him back up and I commanded the demons to come out of him and they did. We have examples in the Scriptures of unbelievers being slain in the spirit, don't we? Preachers want to call it “slain in the spirit”; I don't know about the terminology. But they came up to Jesus, and they all fell backwards in the garden (John 18:6). This showed that Jesus didn't have to go with them. We have quite a few examples of that happening to pagans, but it's not always God. What's Scriptural about knocking christians on the floor? Find it in the Bible. If you can't find it in the Bible, suspect it. Something's wrong because, while it might be a good tingly experience, what is the good in it? We need to see if we can find it one time in the Bible.  If so, that's fine; that means God will do it, but first look at the emphasis in Scripture. If a preacher is having whole services where they're knocking people on the floor, suspect something's wrong. That was not the emphasis of the early church. Our emphasis ought to be like theirs; when they came together, the most important thing was for people to receive the Word of God, not all the manifestations to show how powerful the preacher is. And if the manifestations don't look like the manifestations in the Scripture, then suspect something's wrong. The devil is a deceiver, and he's out to delude people into just tingly experiences. These are just flesh-tingling experiences. Most of the time in the Scriptures, it wasn't somebody who went out and said, “Come out in the name of Jesus,” that caused a person to get deliverance. You know what causes you to get deliverance most often? Repentance. In every situation you get into, you're faced with the truth and your flesh. If you follow your flesh, you permit the devil to live in you. If you follow the Spirit, you put him to death. Some demons are doctrinal demons, like the one I had. You know how that doctrinal demon came out? The truth drove it out. Some demons are physical; their manifestation is in sickness or something like that, and they come out through the laying on of hands or through commanding them to come out. However, some of them are spirits of the lusts of the flesh, and when we look at the Scriptures, we see that most often these were not the kind that came out by a “Come out in the name of Jesus.” You know how they are overcome? It's when you get into a situation, and you're offered the chance, for example, to become angry or bitter, but you say, “No, I don't choose that; I don't accept that.” You refuse to feed your flesh. The Lord says there's a spiritual fast, and that's when your flesh is stopped from doing what it wants. The Bible talks about that in Isaiah 58. If you don't feed the flesh, God has promised you deliverance (Isaiah 58:8-12,14). He puts obstacles in our way to give us opportunities to overcome our flesh. If we don't feed that flesh, it's going to die. You know what the power of the devil is in Christians? It's their flesh. He has a right to stay there as long as they want to live and to serve that flesh. I'm not talking about the body. I'm talking about the nature of the flesh. So, Christians give demons a right. But with true repentance, the devil loses the right to be there. Now you may really want to save someone and deliver them, but God wants you to rest and cease from your works. You see, once we pray and we believe that God hears our prayers concerning our family or others, we have to cease from our works. If we believe He's heard our prayer, we have to stop. That's where the weakness is. It's just as much a part of a miracle as the power; the weakness is. But our weakness is that we need to stop. If we believe God heard, we have to stop trying; we continue to confess the promises; we have to accept that it's accomplished.  (Luk.13:11) And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up. (16) And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound, lo, [these] eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath? Oh, by the way, it's on the day of the Sabbath, the day of ceasing from our works. So here was a daughter of Abraham who had demons and, according to the Covenant, deliverance was her birthright. It's still a birthright, by the way, but it's not according to nationality. You have to be born again. You have to be born into this right. I want to give you one more verse. (2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit … “Of all defilement of flesh and spirit.” We can be defiled by flesh and spirit. Yes, and we have the promises to use to take care of that. If we believe the promises, we can have that. We have a right to God's deliverance that the world does not have. You can do a very dangerous thing by giving God's deliverance to the world.  While my mother was in my house, she stayed delivered in my house. When she decided to leave, though, the demons came back. Why did they come back? Because she, according to the Covenant, had no right to have the deliverance. The curse has a purpose. The purpose of the curse is to make you so stinking miserable that you'll turn to God. There's a good purpose in having a bad curse. You can say, “Well, hitting somebody with a stick is wrong,” unless you consider it a chastening. And the curse is the stick. It's wrong if you look at it from a carnal viewpoint and say, “Oh, it's so wrong! God can't be doing that!” They should read Deuteronomy 28. God sent the curse. (Exo.4:11) And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh [a man] dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I, the Lord? You say, “Well, the devil does it.” Yes, I agree. He's a bad devil and he hates you very much, but the curse has a purpose, and the purpose is to drive you to God. How many of you came to God because of a curse? Stop and think about it. You got so miserable that you decided you needed a Savior and He was waiting. Let me share about this sister who was asking for deliverance. First, we prayed and asked God to give us a discerning spirit. Sometimes it's very useful. It was revealed that she had a lot of anger and self-will outbursts. Then the Lord gave me a dream about going into her backyard. I don't remember all the details, but there were some beasts in her backyard. One of those beasts came up to me with a three-fingered pitchfork in his hand. He was striped, kind of like a zebra, black and white, but he was a lion. I looked up, and he had a head that looked like one of the Roman gods, so I researched it. And the one with the three-fingered pitchfork was Neptune, the god of the sea. So I thought about it and asked, “Lord, what are You trying to tell me with this god of the sea?” Well, this was the leader, the ruler hidden behind her house or body. And there was something else. Spiritually, in the Scriptures, not only does the sea represent the wicked people, like in Revelation, but the sea represents the curse. (Deu.30:1) And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind…. The Word was called the water in (Ephesians 5:26). The Word saved Noah, but it cursed all of the wicked. So this was the god over the sea, over those who are under the curse. Well, that's what I thought about when I was thinking about this dream; Neptune represents the god of the flesh. He's the god of that which is under the curse. He's the god over the curse. Well, let me tell you what happened in the dream; I snatched this pitchfork out of his hand and stuck him in his leg and he died. The leg represents the walk. You know, we have to make decisions every day. If you decide the easy way, which is the flesh way, then you say, “Okay, devil, you can rule over this flesh.” That's what you're really saying. We can see this across the country, too – people who are so-called Christians rising up against the government and actually being used by the enemy who is going to invade this country. But God said, My power is made perfect in weakness in (2Co.12:9) And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. The power of God comes to those who will enter into weakness. The promises, or let's say the commands, and many of the principles, but also the commands of Christ, are to put us into a position of weakness. If you obey the commands of Christ, you will be weak, and you'll cease from your works. You will not be able to handle the situation yourself. You will have to trust in God to do it, if you obey His commands. (2Co.13:4) For he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you. Weakness brings the power of God. Weakness brings crucifixion in the flesh, but it also brings the power of God to bring resurrection. Resurrection life is what we've all wanted from God, but many times we won't pay the price for it. We ask God for the fruit of Jesus to live in us, but before you can have the fruit, you have to give up the lust. The two wage war against one another; they seek to occupy the same territory in your life, but they can't exist together. The lust must be crucified for the new man to live in you and for the fruit to be borne. Anger and forgiveness can't be in the same place. You can do one, or the other, but you won't be able to do both. Christ was crucified through weakness. He obeyed God's word to Him. And it appears to be a command to Him, and He passed on that command to us. To me, it's the most important command in all of the Scriptures for those who want to bring forth fruit. (Isa.50:5) The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward. (6) I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. (7) For the Lord God will help me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. You'll recognize this as a prophecy about Jesus. But His ears were open to the Lord's command, and His command to Jesus was for Him to give His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. That command has been passed on to us. It wasn't a request; it was a command. (Mat.5:38) Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: (39) but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. (40) And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. (41) And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. (42) Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. This is an important command of Jesus because it crucifies our human nature. The overwhelming majority of the lusts of the flesh rise up against a person who wants to obey these Scriptures. You can imagine in your mind turning the other cheek, either in word or in deed or in some kind of action. You know what kind of lusts rise up inside of you when you try to obey the Word. There's a war that goes on inside you when you do this. Jesus fought that war. (Gal.5:19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these:] fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) idolatry, sorcery (from here on you can identify these as having to do with this command), enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, (21) envyings (maybe some of these don't apply so much), drunkenness, revelings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. These things must be put to death.  The Lord has given us a method to put these works of the flesh to death. He spoke to me one time, and He said, “You don't get resurrection life before you get death.” That was at a time I was trying to bring some people into resurrection life, and they weren't entering into the death part. If you want fruit, these lusts have to die. They have to die on this side of Heaven. That's the purpose of God. God's grace delivers from sin; it doesn't just cover sin. Yes, it's wonderful that it covers sin, but that's just for the meantime so that you can have fellowship with God until it manifests its full deliverance. And that is deliverance. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and that's what we're talking about here. Most of these lusts are affected by just one command of Jesus and they're put to death by obedience to just one command of Jesus, and that is, “Resist not him that is evil.” It's one of the most important and most neglected doctrines in all of the Scriptures. Let's read on. (Gal.5:22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. (24) And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. The Lord said that we had to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). We just read that “he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God” (2Co.13:4). If we're going to enter into the resurrection life of Jesus in the earth, we have to enter into this death. We have to take up our cross. I don't think many people realize that Jesus always bore a cross; it wasn't just at the end of His life. He bore a cross His whole life by denial of self. He “hath been in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin” (Heb.4:15). And “each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed” (Jas.1:14). Jesus was “of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom.1:3). I know a lot of people don't believe that, but I'm just quoting what the Bible says. According to the Spirit, He was the Son of God (Romans 1:4), but according to the flesh, He was of the seed of David, “the Son of man”. You know what? He was tempted. That flesh Jesus had was real flesh. He was a great God because He came down in the likeness of sinful flesh and overcame sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). But He bore a cross all of His life and that cross was to deny self, to deny the old man to live through Him. He wouldn't permit the lusts of the flesh to speak or to live through Him. And we have to take up our cross and follow Him or we cannot be His disciple. Taking up our cross is to walk as He walked. We probably won't be called upon to bear the physical cross of Jesus, but we're definitely called upon to bear this spiritual cross that He always bore as to the denying of self. The commands of Jesus put you in a position of weakness. If you obey them, your flesh is going to squirm and it's going to writhe and try to rise up on the inside of you. It's going to tell you, “No, don't believe that doctrine,” but it's just too prevalent, too com­mon in the Scriptures to deny it. Jesus said, “resist not him that is evil” (Mat.5:39). I tell you, your flesh rises up on the inside of you, and it says, “No, no, no! Hit back, talk back, do something, get even!” That flesh just doesn't want to die. It's a crucifixion. You can always tell when the flesh is in trouble because it squeals like a stuck pig. If you don't ever go against it, you don't ever hear it squeal, but I can tell you that the commands of Jesus are going to put you at variance with the flesh. They'll cause the flesh to be seen by you very plainly. Before you read the Scriptures, it's easy to think you're doing pretty well, that everything's alright. When you read the Scriptures and you see commands like this, and if you start to obey them, you'll find out what's way down inside of you when it shows its ugly head. When you go against it, that's where the power of God takes over. Do you still love me?

Dr. Thomas Laehn joins Brian Nichols to reveal how Iowa's data center fight, eminent domain, and Citizens United money all run through the 2026 Senate race - and why voters keep getting handed two bad options.Laehn is the Greene County Attorney and the first Libertarian in Iowa history to win a partisan election. Then he won it again. Now he's on the November 3 ballot against Ashley Hinson and Josh Turek for Joni Ernst's open seat.He wrote a bill that passed the House and passed the Senate. It never became law. What happened to it is the part nobody in Des Moines wants repeated.Brian pushes back hard - on young men and H-1B hiring, on the cultural fight libertarians keep dodging, on whether one party is objectively worse than the other. Laehn's answer isn't the one you're expecting.And then a former professor of constitutional law says something about the word "republic" that we had to sit with for a second.Give it a listen.CHAPTERS0:00 The Third Party Line Iowa Just Broke2:01 Preacher's Kid, Professor, Prosecutor2:48 He Won as a Libertarian. Then Won Again.4:23 Why Iowa and Not Your State5:12 The Majority Nobody Bothers to Count7:17 Brian Pushes Back: Isn't One Party Just Worse?9:38 88% Want Term Limits. Neither Party Will Move.12:10 The COVID Test Both Parties Failed14:16 The Flag Burning Order and the Prison Threat18:24 The Cultural Fight Libertarians Keep Dodging21:26 Federalism Is the Answer. Here's Why.22:45 "We May Already Have a Monarchy"24:32 Young Men, H-1B, and the Hopelessness Problem26:56 The $200K Veto: Bruce Rastetter's Pipeline30:13 Data Centers, the 40-Acre Rule, and Groundwater30:58 The Lindsay Clancy Question32:18 Israel, Iran, and the Blank Check33:13 Overturn Citizens United34:33 Hinson vs Turek vs Laehn35:29 Why Vote for Him on November 337:20 Educated. Enlightened. Informed.SUPPORT DR. THOMAS LAEHNCampaign site and donations: https://laehn4iowa.orgMeet Thomas: https://laehn4iowa.org/aboutLibertarian Party profile: https://lp.org/candidate/thomas-laehn/THE BRIAN NICHOLS SHOWWebsite: https://briannicholsshow.comEmail: brian@briannicholsshow.comX: https://x.com/BNicholsLibertyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BNicholsLibertyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bnicholslibertySPONSORCardio Miracle: https://cardiomiracle.com/TBNSUse code TBNS for 15% offEducated. Enlightened. Informed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eagerly, the Reverend leaped into the waiting bathtub, positioned at the top of the stairs in the chilly foyer of the frontier hotel. And then, to his horror, he realized it was sliding toward the top of the staircase on a sheet of ice ... (Weston, Umatilla County; 1850s, 1860s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1603a.circuit-preachers-wells-wild-ride-381.html)

And Also With You is a podcast about reclaiming an ancient Christian faith for modern Christian life, helmed by two millennial women Episcopal priests and moms (Rev. Lizzie McManus-Dail and Rev. Laura Di Panfilo). For our fourth season we are diving deep into SIN, EVIL, and DEATH, and we're starting out with a bang: what is the sin of Christian Nationalism?  The theology of MAGA Christian nationalism has nuances, but the connective tissue is this: the world is not safe, and God must be defended from many, many enemies — and when God is defended on earth, God will reign over His chosen children with love, while exacting vengeance on everyone else. It is explicitly patriarchal even as it can empower women in positions of prestige and leadership, provided they are still “under” a man in some way. MAGA Christian nationalism creates communal identity based not so much on what Christian nationalists have in common, but on what they are against and, therefore, whom they must defeat. But while MAGA Christian nationalism offered a tempting promise, its popularity is actually the self-consuming dragon ... and this is the nature of sin, evil, and death. So buckle up cutie pies, we're tearing this idol apart brick by brick.  This podcast is entirely possible because of listeners like YOU, so please support our work here  via PAYPAL, VENMO, OR APPLE PAY: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/AQ74PDBMBXYVA Lizzie's piece for The Preamble: https://thepreamble.com/cp/211884325 +++ Like what you hear? We are an entirely crowd-sourced, you-funded project.  SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/AndAlsoWithYouPodcast There's all kinds of perks including un-aired live episodes, Zoom retreats, and mailbag episodes for our Patreons! +++ Our Website: https://andalsowithyoupod.com Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andalsowithyoupodcast/ ++++ MERCH: https://www.bonfire.com/store/and-also-with-you-the-podcast/ ++++ More about Father Lizzie: BOOK: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/762683/god-didnt-make-us-to-hate-us-by-rev-lizzie-mcmanus-dail/ RevLizzie.com https://www.instagram.com/rev.lizzie/ https://www.tiktok.com/@rev.lizzie Jubilee Episcopal Church in Austin, TX - JubileeATX.org  ++++ More about Mother Laura: https://www.instagram.com/laura.peaches/ https://www.tiktok.com/@mother_peaches St. Brendan's Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA - https://www.stbrendans.org ++++ Theme music: "On Our Own Again" by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). New episodes drop Mondays at 7am EST/6am CST! 

*This Episode was originally published on 02/23/2023. Today, Dr. Jared Bumpers joins me back in the studio as cohost as we discuss one of my books, Succeeding in Seminary. The post The Pastor and Theological Education appeared first on Preaching and Preachers Institute.

If there is any biblical book which has something to say about wisdom, it is the Book of Proverbs. But what actually is Proverbs? Who wrote it? And what is its message about what a good life looks like? To get to the bottom of Proverbs, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Dr Ryan O'Dowd.Ryan O'Dowd is Senior Academic Advisor at Chesterton House, Cornell University. He earned his PhD in Old Testament from the University of Liverpool and his many books include The Wisdom of Torah: Epistemology in Deuteronomy and the Wisdom Literature, a commentary on Proverbs, a co-authored volume, Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction, and The Preacher's Hebrew Companion to Deuteronomy. Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

September 20, 2026 Sunday evening service preaching from the pulpit of Woodland Baptist Church – Winston Salem, NC * Please feel free to visit our website at woodlandbaptistnow.com

September 20, 2026 Sunday morning service preaching from the pulpit of Woodland Baptist Church – Winston Salem, NC * Please feel free to visit our website at woodlandbaptistnow.com

Building God's Way According to Ezra & Nehemiah, Pt. 6God Gave Us PreachersEzra 7:1-18 | King's Chapel Live StreamWho should we trust to lead us?In Ezra 7, we meet Ezra, a priest and teacher who knew God's Word, lived under its authority, and taught its transforming truth to God's people. His life gives us a picture of what faithful spiritual leadership should look like.But Ezra was never meant to be the final answer. His life points us forward to Jesus, the ultimate Preacher and King, who leads His people with perfect wisdom and authority.God gives His people preachers to teach His Word, lead His people, and point us to Christ.A quick note about this recording: We experienced some technical difficulties during the sermon, so there was a delay in getting this message posted. Thank you for your patience and we hope this message in still an encouragement to you!#Jesus #Christianity #Bible #Sermon #FaithConnect with King's Chapel - ▶️ www.kingschapelfl.com▶️ https://www.facebook.com/KingsChapelfl▶️ https://www.instagram.com/kingschapelfl/For the GLORY of our Great GodFor the GOOD of our NeighborGod gave us preachers, Ezra 7, Ezra and Nehemiah, Building God's Way, Ezra the priest, Ezra the preacher, biblical preaching, godly leadership, spiritual leadership, Christian leadership, teaching God's Word, authority of God's Word, transforming truth, trusting God's Word, Jesus the ultimate King, Jesus the ultimate preacher, Christian sermon, Bible sermon, Jesus, Gospel, following Jesus, Christian faith, Christian living, Longwood FL church, Longwood Florida church, King's Chapel

Another week, another great set of readings. Let's think about preaching!The Gospel is the confrontation in the temple. Jesus is teaching after his triumphal entry when the chief priests and elders come to challenge his authority. He refuses to answer directly. Instead, he tells a parable that exposes them — a parable about two sons, one who said no but did the work anyway, and one who said yes but did not. The parable closes with one of Jesus's sharper lines: tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.Track One brings us the Israelites at Massah and Meribah — a story of thirst, complaint, and water from the rock. Track Two brings us Ezekiel's rejection of the proverb “the parents have eaten sour grapes,” insisting that change is possible for anyone and ending with God's astonishing plea: “turn, then, and live.” The Epistle gives us the Christ hymn — Christ's self-emptying as the pattern for the church's common life.For preachers continuing a series: last week's parable of the vineyard workers exposed our envy of God's generosity. This week's parable of the two sons exposes the difference between the yes we say and the yes we do. The Matthew arc keeps sharpening.The ReadingsExodus 17:1–7First Reading (Track One) — Water from the Rock at Massah and MeribahSummaryThe Israelites are camped at Rephidim, and there is no water. They quarrel with Moses, demanding water. Moses asks why they are testing God. The people press harder — they and their children and their livestock are thirsty; they wish they had died in Egypt. Moses cries out to God: what am I supposed to do? They are ready to stone me. God tells Moses to take his staff, go ahead of the people to the rock at Horeb, and strike it. Water will come out. Moses does this in the sight of the elders. The place is named Massah (testing) and Meribah (quarreling), because the people asked: “Is the Lord among us or not?”Photo by Jakob Owens on UnsplashKey Ideas for Preaching* The people's complaint is real. They are thirsty. Their children are thirsty. Their livestock is thirsty. The text does not shame them for being scared; it simply gives them water. Where in your congregation have people been told their complaints were faithless when what they actually needed was water?* Their question — “Is the Lord among us or not?” — is honest. It is the question we ask when we are exhausted and afraid, when God's presence seems more theoretical than real. What might your sermon do with a God who does not answer this question with a lecture on faith, but with actual water?* The place is named Massah and Meribah, and the naming stays in the tradition. Israel remembers their doubt as part of the story, not as something to be edited out. Where in your congregation has the impulse been to erase the memory of doubt rather than name it as part of the faithful story?Significant Cautions* Do not preach this in a way that shames people who are asking honest questions about God's presence. The people's question is not what the text critiques; it is the testing (implying “prove yourself to us or we walk away”) that is more problematic.* Later in the Torah, Moses's own impatience at another version of this story will cost him entry into the promised land. Do not conflate the two stories.Psalm 78:1–4, 12–16The Psalm (Track One) — We Will Tell the Coming GenerationSummaryA wisdom psalm calling for the passing down of God's works from one generation to the next. The selected verses focus on Egypt and the wilderness — the dividing of the sea, the cloud that led by day and fire by night, the water from the rock that split open like rivers. The psalmist insists this story must be told to children.Key Ideas for Preaching* “We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation.” That is a specific pastoral commitment. Where in your congregation is the passing-down of the faith going quiet, and how might this psalm invite grandparents, parents, and mentors into concrete practice?* Read alongside the Exodus reading, the psalm's calm narration of “water flowed from the rock” flattens the tension of Massah and Meribah. Where has your congregation's remembering of the past made the actual difficulty feel smaller than it was?Significant Cautions* Do not use the psalm to shame parents who are struggling to pass the faith on. The passing-down is a communal responsibility, not a solo parental burden.Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32First Reading (Track Two) — Turn, Then, and LiveSummaryGod rejects the proverb Israel had been quoting to itself: “the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.” This proverb had become an excuse — the current generation is suffering for what their ancestors did. God insists otherwise: every life belongs to God; the person who sins is the one who is accountable. If a wicked person turns from their sin, they will live. If a righteous person turns from righteousness, they will die. The people complain that God's way is unfair; God answers that it is their ways that are unfair. And the passage closes with God's astonishing plea: “Have I any pleasure in the death of anyone? Turn, then, and live.”Key Ideas for Preaching* The rejected proverb had become a way of avoiding responsibility — blaming the past for the present. God's response is not “let it go” but “turn.” Where in your congregation has intergenerational blame become a substitute for actual change?* The passage insists that change is possible in either direction. A wicked person can turn. A righteous person can fall away. Neither category is permanent. What might your sermon do with a God who refuses to give up on people who have failed and who refuses to guarantee people who have succeeded?* “Have I any pleasure in the death of anyone?... Turn, then, and live.” That is God's own posture. God is not eager for judgment; God is longing for return. Where in your congregation has God been imagined as more eager for judgment than the text depicts?Significant Cautions* The passage's insistence on personal responsibility should not be used to dismiss the real effects of intergenerational trauma. Ezekiel is arguing against fatalism, not denying that families and communities pass down real wounds.* “The soul that sins shall die” has been used in ways that make God sound bloodthirsty. In context, this is a call to change, not a threat of eternal punishment.Psalm 25:1–9The Psalm (Track Two) — Remember Not the Sins of My YouthSummaryA psalm of trust and prayer. “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” The psalmist asks to be taught God's ways, remembered by God's mercy, forgiven for the sins of youth. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. The humble are led in what is right and taught his way.Key Ideas for Preaching* “Remember not the sins of my youth… according to your steadfast love, remember me.” That is a prayer many people in your congregation have never given themselves permission to pray. What might it look like to offer them the specific practice of asking God to remember them by mercy rather than by the mistakes they made when they were younger?* “He instructs sinners in the way.” That is a striking picture — God as a teacher of the ones who have failed. Where in your congregation has failure been imagined as the end of instruction, when the psalm imagines it as the beginning?Significant Cautions* “Sins of youth” should not be read narrowly. The point is that God's memory of us is not our worst moments.Philippians 2:1–13The Epistle — The Mind of Christ; the Christ HymnSummaryPaul writes to a community he loves, urging them to be of one mind, one love, one accord. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit; in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Then the great Christ hymn: let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name. The passage closes: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, because God is at work in you.Key Ideas for Preaching* The Christ hymn is the pattern — self-emptying downward before glory. Paul asks the Philippians to have this same mind. That is a radical reframing of how a Christian community holds together. Where in your congregation has upward mobility (position, recognition, honor) been mistaken for the shape of Christian life?* “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit” is not a call to passivity — it is a call to reorient ambition itself. The Christ of the hymn is enormously active; he simply does not act for himself. What might your sermon do with the difference between Christian ambition and Christian selfish ambition?* “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you.” That paradox holds together human effort and divine work in the same sentence. Where in your congregation has one been emphasized at the expense of the other?Significant Cautions* The Christ hymn has been used to tell women, enslaved people, and the poor to accept their subjugation as an imitation of Christ's humility. This is a horrifying misuse. Christ's self-emptying was voluntary and toward the mission of God. It is not a template for anyone else's forced humiliation.* “Regard others as better than yourselves” has been used to reinforce unhealthy self-abasement. The point is other-orientation, not the erasure of self-worth.Matthew 21:23–32The Gospel — By What Authority; the Two SonsSummaryJesus is in the temple, teaching, after his triumphal entry. The chief priests and elders come and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answers with a question of his own: “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” They cannot answer — if they say heaven, he will ask why they did not believe John; if they say human, the crowd will turn on them. They say, “We do not know.” Jesus says, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Then the parable. A man had two sons. He asked the first to go work in the vineyard; the son said, “I will not,” but later changed his mind and went. He asked the second; the son said, “I go, sir,” but did not go. Which one did the will of his father? The first, they answer. Jesus concludes: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but they did. And even seeing this, you did not change your minds.Key Ideas for Preaching* Jesus's question about John is not a rhetorical trick — it is a genuine diagnostic. If you cannot make an honest judgment about John, you cannot make an honest judgment about me. What might your sermon do with a Jesus who tests the honesty of the question before he answers it?* The parable exposes a specific failure — the failure of the yes that does not become an action. The second son says the right thing but does not do it. This is not aimed at hypocrites in the classical sense; it is aimed at everyone whose intentions have quietly outrun their actions. Where in your congregation are people whose faith has been more said than done?* The tax collectors and prostitutes go ahead not because they were morally superior but because they believed John and changed their minds. Change of mind — metanoia — is the door. Where in your congregation has “unchanged conviction” been imagined as more faithful than “changed mind”?* “You did not change your minds and believe him.” That closing line names something specific: it is possible to see the truth working in others and still not change. The evidence is there, and the will is not. What might your sermon do with the possibility that the deepest failure in this passage is not saying no but seeing yes elsewhere and still refusing?Significant Cautions* The parable can be preached as if the “no-then-yes” son is a moral hero. He is not; he is simply the one who actually did the work. Preachers should honor the parable's realism rather than heroizing anyone.* “Tax collectors and prostitutes going into the kingdom ahead of you” has been used to shame religious people in ways that create a new self-righteousness. Watch for the irony — the new self-congratulation of “we are more like the tax collectors than the priests” is exactly what the parable is critiquing.* Do not use the parable to bless procrastination (“I said no but I did it eventually, so I'm the good son”). The parable is diagnostic, not permission.Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the natural center — a confrontation about authority followed by a parable about what actual obedience looks like.On Track One, the Israelites at Massah and Meribah pair with the Gospel in a specific way. The question they ask — “Is the Lord among us or not?” — is being asked in the temple too, by different questioners with different stakes. The Israelites ask honestly; the priests ask to trap. And the God who answers the Israelites with water is the same God whose Son is now being questioned by those he has come to save.On Track Two, Ezekiel's insistence that change is possible pairs directly with the Gospel's parable. The first son changes his mind. So do the tax collectors and prostitutes who believed John. Ezekiel and Jesus are naming the same thing: turning is possible, and the God who receives the turned is the God who has always been longing for return. “Turn, then, and live.”Philippians 2 sits inside the day as the pattern for what changed minds actually produce. The Christ who emptied himself is the model for a community whose transformed minds show up in transformed lives. It is not just belief; it is the mind of Christ becoming the shape of a community.For preachers continuing a series: last week the parable of the vineyard exposed our envy of grace on others. This week the parable of the two sons exposes the yes that does not become an action. The Matthew arc keeps testing the distance between the words we speak and the lives we live. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

Faithful, biblical preaching doesn't have to follow a specific formula in order to bless God's people. Today, Sinclair Ferguson reflects with gratitude on the variety of gifts and emphases that God gives to His preachers. Read the transcript: https://ligonier.org/podcasts/things-unseen-with-sinclair-ferguson/different-kinds-of-preachers/ A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://donate.ligonier.org/ Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts