Podcasts about Serve

Let's explore the themes in the readings for the 4th Sunday of Advent. (Lectionary #10) December 15, 2025 - Cathedral Rectory - Superior, WI Fr. Andrew Ricci - www.studyprayserve.com  

Maracanà con Marco Piccari e Stefano Impallomeni. Ospiti: Ceccarini:"La posizione di Vanoli è sotto osservazione. Bonanni:"Sarri - Lazio grande prova. L'Inter può scappare" Impallomeni:"Alla Fiorentina serve Sabatini" Garbo:"Scamacca ha tutto per essere un grande attaccante. Bentornato!!"

Maracanà con Marco Piccari e Stefano Impallomeni. Ospiti: Bucchioni:"Il Milan rimane da scudetto serve un 9" Di Napoli:"Conte sta limitando i danni. Chivu ha grandi meriti" Impallomeni:"Zielinski ritrovato come un tempo."

Maracanà con Marco Piccari e Stefano Impallomeni. Ospiti: Ceccarini:"La posizione di Vanoli è sotto osservazione. Bonanni:"Sarri - Lazio grande prova. L'Inter può scappare" Impallomeni:"Alla Fiorentina serve Sabatini" Garbo:"Scamacca ha tutto per essere un grande attaccante. Bentornato!!"

Maracanà con Marco Piccari e Stefano Impallomeni. Ospiti: Bucchioni:"Il Milan rimane da scudetto serve un 9" Di Napoli:"Conte sta limitando i danni. Chivu ha grandi meriti" Impallomeni:"Zielinski ritrovato come un tempo."

Freedom Livestream - December 14, 2025SERIES: Before BethlehemTITLE: SovereignSPEAKER: Tracy DunhamYouTube PlaylistFOLLOWING JESUS: freedomkw.com/life NEW TO FREEDOM? freedomkw.com/im-new GIVE: freedomkw.com/give CHRISTMAS: freedomkw.com/christmasWATER BAPTISM: freedomkw.com/baptismCARE CLOSET: freedomkw.com/careclosetGROUPS: freedomkw.com/groups ALPHA: freedomkw.com/alphaMissions: freedomkw.com/missions Serve: freedomkw.com/team-member-opportunities Facebook Groups: Connecting Point & Freedom Kids

Quel Che Serve, consigli e soluzioni per tutte le occasioni. Di e con Bettina Carniato

Il congiuntivo ti fa impazzire? Non sai mai quando usarlo e quando no? Ti senti insicuro ogni volta che devi scegliere tra congiuntivo e indicativo? Beh, tranquillo, non sei solo! Il congiuntivo è il nemico numero uno di tutti gli stranieri che studiano l'italiano... e anche di molti italiani, a dire il vero! Perciò ho realizzato questa guida definitiva su quando va usato e quando invece no. Congiuntivo: Quando Usarlo e Quando Non Usarlo Parte 1: Quando Usare il Congiuntivo 1. Con i Verbi di OPINIONE nella Frase Principale Quando nella frase principale c'è un verbo che esprime un'opinione personale, nella frase secondaria devi usare il congiuntivo. Questi verbi sono, per esempio: pensare, credere, ritenere, supporre, immaginare. Esempi pratici: Penso che tu abbia ragione. (e non "hai") Credo che Marco sia già partito. (e non "è") Suppongo che loro vengano domani. (e non "vengono") Immagino che la festa finisca tardi. (e non "finisce") La regola è semplice: quando esprimi un pensiero soggettivo o un'opinione personale, il verbo della frase dipendente va al congiuntivo perché indica qualcosa di incerto, non verificato oggettivamente. 2. Con i Verbi di SPERANZA, AUGURIO e VOLONTÀ Quando esprimi una speranza, un augurio o una volontà, devi usare il congiuntivo nella frase secondaria. I verbi più comuni sono: sperare, augurare, desiderare, volere, preferire. Esempi pratici: Spero che tutto vada bene. (e non "va") Vi auguro che siate felici per sempre. (e non "siete") Voglio che voi studiate di più. (e non "studiate" indicativo) Preferisco che lei venga con noi. (e non "viene") Questi verbi esprimono un desiderio o una volontà che qualcosa accada, ma non è detto che accada davvero. Proprio per questo motivo di incertezza sul futuro, si usa il congiuntivo. 3. Con i Verbi di SENTIMENTO ed EMOZIONE Gioia, tristezza, paura, rabbia... tutte le emozioni richiedono il congiuntivo! I verbi tipici sono: essere felice/contento/triste, dispiacere, temere, avere paura. Esempi pratici: Sono felice che tu sia qui. (e non "sei") Mi dispiace che non possiate venire. (e non "potete") Temo che piova domani. (e non "piove") Ho paura che lui non capisca. (e non "capisce") Le emozioni sono reazioni soggettive a situazioni che non sono sotto il nostro controllo diretto. Per questo motivo, quando esprimiamo un sentimento riguardo a un'azione o situazione, usiamo il congiuntivo per sottolineare la natura soggettiva della nostra reazione emotiva. 4. Con i Verbi di DUBBIO Il dubbio e il congiuntivo sono migliori amici! Se nella frase principale c'è un verbo che esprime incertezza o dubbio, nella secondaria ci vuole il congiuntivo. I verbi più comuni sono: dubitare, non essere sicuro/certo. Esempi pratici: Dubito che lui dica la verità. (e non "dice") Non sono sicuro che questa sia la strada giusta. (e non "è") Non sono certa che loro arrivino in tempo. (e non "arrivano") Il dubbio rappresenta per definizione una mancanza di certezza, quindi è perfettamente logico che richieda il congiuntivo, il modo verbale che esprime proprio l'incertezza e la possibilità. 5. Con Molte Congiunzioni e Locuzioni che Esprimono IPOTESI, CONDIZIONE, CONCESSIONE Alcune parole "magiche" richiedono sempre il congiuntivo. Ecco le più importanti: Congiunzione/LocuzioneSignificatoEsempioaffinché / perché (scopo)con lo scopo cheTi chiamo affinché tu sappia la verità.purché / a patto che / a condizione chea condizione cheVengo, purché tu mi accompagni a casa.prima cheprima diDevo uscire prima che piova.senza chesenzaÈ uscito senza che io lo sapessi.nel caso in cui / qualoranel casoNel caso in cui tu abbia bisogno, chiamami.nonostante / benché / sebbenenonostanteNonostante faccia freddo, esco senza la giacca.a meno che / tranne cheeccetto seVengo, a meno che non piova. Queste congiunzioni introducono situazioni ipotetiche, condizionali o concessive, quindi richiedono sempre il congiuntivo per indicare che si tratta di eventi non ancora realizzati o comunque incerti. 6. Con Alcune Espressioni IMPERSONALI Le espressioni impersonali (quelle con "è" + aggettivo/sostantivo) richiedono quasi sempre il congiuntivo. Ecco le principali: È necessario/importante/essenziale che: È necessario che tu venga subito. È possibile/probabile/impossibile che: È probabile che loro siano in ritardo. È meglio/peggio che: È meglio che tu stia a casa. È bene/male che: È bene che voi sappiate la verità. È giusto/sbagliato che: È giusto che lui paghi per quello che ha fatto. È strano/raro/incredibile che: È strano che lui non abbia ancora chiamato. Può darsi/può essere che: Può darsi che io parta domani. Queste espressioni esprimono valutazioni soggettive, possibilità o necessità, e per questo richiedono il congiuntivo. Si tratta di giudizi o previsioni, non di fatti certi. 7. Con i Verbi di ATTESA e ASPETTATIVA Quando aspetti qualcosa o qualcuno, usa il congiuntivo! I verbi principali sono: aspettare, attendere, aspettarsi. Esempi pratici: Aspetto che tu finisca di studiare. (e non "finisci") Mi aspetto che lui arrivi presto. (e non "arriva") Attendiamo che voi ci diate una risposta. (e non "date") L'attesa implica sempre un elemento di incertezza su quando o se qualcosa accadrà, quindi si usa naturalmente il congiuntivo. 8. Con Alcuni Verbi IMPERSONALI Verbi come bastare, occorrere, servire, convenire, importare richiedono il congiuntivo: Esempi pratici: Basta che tu mi dica la verità. Occorre che voi siate puntuali. Non importa che lei venga o no. Conviene che partiamo presto. Serve che qualcuno mi aiuti. Questi verbi esprimono necessità, sufficienza o rilevanza, ma non certezza su ciò che accadrà, quindi richiedono il congiuntivo. 9. SUPERLATIVO + Pronome Relativo (Opinione Personale) Quando usi un superlativo seguito da un pronome relativo (che, cui) per esprimere un'opinione personale e soggettiva, devi usare il congiuntivo: Esempi pratici: È il film più bello che abbia mai visto. (CONGIUNTIVO) → È la mia opinione personale, soggettiva. È la persona più intelligente che conosca. (Mia opinione personale) È il ristorante migliore in cui abbia mai mangiato. (Valutazione soggettiva) È la cosa più strana che mi sia mai capitata. (Esperienza personale) In questo caso, il congiuntivo sottolinea che si tratta di una valutazione personale, non di un fatto oggettivo. Se invece parlassimo di un fatto oggettivo e misurabile, useremmo l'indicativo (es. "È la montagna più alta che esiste in Europa" - fatto geografico). Parte 2: Quando NON Usare il Congiuntivo (e Usare l'Indicativo) 1. Con i Verbi di CERTEZZA nella Frase Principale Quando nella frase principale c'è un verbo che esprime certezza, sicurezza o conoscenza oggettiva, nella frase secondaria devi usare l'indicativo. I verbi principali sono: sapere, essere sicuro/certo, conoscere, rendersi conto, accorgersi, notare, ricordare. Esempi pratici: Ricordo che ieri pioveva. (e non "piovesse") Mi sono accorto che tu hai ragione. (e non "abbia") Noto che sei stanco. (e non "tu sia stanco") So che la newsletter di LearnAmo è super utile. (e non "sia") Sono certo che domani faranno bel tempo. (e non "facciano") La regola è chiara: se esprimi certezza assoluta o conoscenza diretta di qualcosa, non c'è spazio per il dubbio, quindi si usa l'indicativo. 2. Con i Verbi di PERCEZIONE I verbi che esprimono una percezione sensoriale (quello che vedi, senti, ecc.) richiedono l'indicativo: vedere, sentire, ascoltare, toccare, percepire. Esempi pratici: Vedo che stai bene. (e non "tu stia") Sento che arrivano. (e non "arrivino") Ho sentito che Luigi si è sposato. (e non "si sia sposato") Percepisco che c'è qualcosa che non va. (e non "ci sia") ⚠️ ATTENZIONE! Se usi sembrare o parere, allora devi usare il congiuntivo: Mi sembra che tu sia stanco. ✓ Mi pare che lui abbia ragione. ✓ Perché questa differenza? Perché "vedere" e "sentire" indicano una percezione diretta e quindi certa, mentre "sembrare" e "parere" indicano un'impressione soggettiva, quindi incerta. 3. Con i Verbi di AFFERMAZIONE e DICHIARAZIONE Quando affermi o dichiari qualcosa con certezza, usa l'indicativo! I verbi tipici sono: dire, affermare, dichiarare, sostenere, riferire, raccontare, spiegare, confermare, giurare, promettere. Esempi pratici: Raccontavano che tu avevi torto. (e non "abbia") Lui afferma che l'esame è facile. (e non "sia") Confermo che domani vengono. (e non "vengano") Ti giuro che faccio il possibile. (e non "faccia") Mi ha detto che parte domani. (e non "parta") ⚠️ ATTENZIONE! Se questi verbi sono alla forma NEGATIVA, allora puoi usare il congiuntivo: Non dico che tu abbia torto. ✓ Non promettono che vengano. ✓ Non affermo che lui sia colpevole. ✓ La negazione introduce un elemento di dubbio o incertezza, quindi il congiuntivo diventa appropriato. 4. Dopo Espressioni Impersonali di CERTEZZA Alcune espressioni impersonali esprimono certezza e quindi richiedono l'indicativo: È vero/certo/sicuro che: È vero che Marco ha 30 anni. (e non "abbia") È chiaro/evidente/ovvio che: È chiaro che lui non capisce. (e non "capisca") ⚠️ ATTENZIONE! Quando queste espressioni diventano PERSONALI, devi usare il congiuntivo: Sono sicura che domani piova. ✓ (opinione personale) Siamo certi che tu abbia ragione. ✓ (certezza soggettiva) La differenza sta nel fatto che le espressioni impersonali ("è vero che...") presentano qualcosa come un fatto oggettivo, mentre le espressioni personali ("sono sicuro che...") esprimono una convinzione personale. 5. Con "Secondo me", "Per me", "A mio parere", "A mio avviso" Queste espressioni introducono un'opinione personale,

A messge by Rev. Joel Siegel.

WARNING:Yumi loses it trying not to laugh when Simon uses the word "jazzy".Christmas season means LEFTOVERS.And honestly, it can get a bit grim.The fridge is overflowing with food from Christmas and you're absolutely sick of it ...but also, it needs to be eaten!BEFORE Christmas even arrives, let's pre-empt the leftovers with some thought starters and a recipe.FESTIVE FRITTATAIngredients:Veg leftovers200-250g of leftover turkey or ham6 eggs whisked with 1tbs milksalt and peppersome cheesesIn an oven-proof, heavy-based frypan, warm up the veg, get them crisp and heated and reactivated for yumminess.Add in the finely chopped leftover meatWhen ready, season the eggs with salt and pepper and pour the egg mixture over the leftovers in the pan.Dot cheese around the pan or add a big grating of it over the top. Leftover fancy Christmas cheese is perfect for this.Put the lid on the pan and leave it for 4 minutes, or until the edges are looking set but the top is wobbly. Set the whole pan under the pre-heated grill for 5 minutes.Allow it to rest.Serve wedges of frittata with a squeeze of lemon and some fresh herbs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cider, star anise and pineapple roasted ham Cook time: 60 minutes Prep time: 10 minutes Serves: 8-10 3kg free range cured and smoked Christmas ham 2 x 330ml dry cider or apple juice 6 star anise 10 cloves 2 cups fresh pineapple, peeled, sliced and cubed 2 tbsp Dijion mustard 300 gm brown sugar Preheat a oven on fan-bake to160c. Slice the skin of the ham and score the fat in a diamond pattern. Combine the cider, star anise and sugar in a pot and bring to the boil, reduce until syrupy (bubbles will increase in size and slow) Dice the pineapple into thin dice and then stir into the cider mixture. Allow to cool. Place the ham into a roasting tray. Smear the Dijion over the ham, followed by 3 tbsp of the cider glaze. Use the cloves to prick through the pineapple to keep it in place. Place the ham in the middle of the oven oven for 1 hour depending on size, checking and baste until caramelized. Serve hot or at room temperature if transporting. Keep the remaining cider syrup to re-glaze once on the table. Sumptuous! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's time that we stop allowing foreign-born people to serve in Congress. Somalians are turning Minnesota into a third-world country. Earlier this week, I released a video of me trying Somalian food, and it's getting people very angry online … so I decided to read some of the worst comments on the show. ► Jump into the comments on my video “Sara Tries Somalian Food” and join the conversation. YouTube https://youtube.com/shorts/6cTi9-7Zc0o?si=BpxEnsmYfZan7Dxl X https://x.com/SaraGonzalesTX/status/1998768487188279432?s=20 IG https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSF6Jl0ERVW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link ► Subscribe to "Sara Gonzales Unfiltered"! https://www.youtube.com/@SaraGonzalesUnfiltered?sub_confirmation=1Today's Sponsors: ► Fatty15 Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to https://www.fatty15.com/SARA and using code SARA at checkout. ► Kindred Harvest Teas Go to https://www.kindredharvest.co and use code SARA for 20% off. ►Blaze TV Join today at https://www.blazetv.com/SARA and get $20 off right now. Timestamps: 00:00 – Foreigners Shouldn't Be in Congress 18:44 – Somalians Are Destroying Minnesota 33:03 – I Tried Somalian Food 36:56 – Reading Angry Comments ► Subscribe on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sara-gonzales-unfiltered/id1408958605 ► Shop American Beauty by Sara: http://americanbeautybysara.com Sara Gonzales is the host of Sara Gonzales Unfiltered, a daily news program on Blaze TV. Joined by frequent contributors & guests such as Chad Prather, Eric July, John Doyle, Jaco Booyens, Sara breaks down the latest news in politics and culture. She previously hosted "The News and Why It Matters," featuring notable guests such as Glenn Beck, Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, Michael Knowles, Candace Owens, Michael Malice, and more. As a conservative commentator, Sara frequently calls out the Democrats for their hypocrisy, the mainstream media for their misinformation, feminists for their toxicity, and also focuses on pro-life issues, culture, gender issues, health care, the Second Amendment, and passing conservative values to the next generation. Sara also appears as a recurring guest on the Megyn Kelly Show, The Sean Spicer Show, Tim Pool, and with Jesse Kelly on The First TV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the next week or two – whatever your degree of vocal prowess or religious belief – you are likely to join in some form of communal singing. Whether it's ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful', ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You' or ‘Feliz Navidad', you will be obeying the exhortation of Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come into His presence with singing.”Carols and seasonal songs are so integral to this time of year that we don't probe the reason for their presence in churches, homes and so many other shared spaces. St Augustine of Hippo, born in the fourth century, can enlighten us. He said: “Cantare amantis est.” In other words, “To sing is the act of a lover,” or, as the Pope put it at the Jubilee of Choirs in Rome last month, “Singing belongs to those who love.” When we love deeply, silence is not enough. Love, with all the trust and joy it engenders, seeks expression, and it finds expression through song.Christmas is the feast of God's love made flesh. Our carols are songs of love to the God who comes among us. As Pope Leo reminded the singers assembled in St Peter's Square, song can be a way of praying, lifting the soul towards the mystery we celebrate. When we sing, we join the angels who announced “Glory to the newborn king”.Of course, the spiritual power of song is not restricted to Christmas and the people who celebrate it. It was in Judaism that the Psalms first became shared prayers, and at Hanukkah – the festival of light that so often coincides with Advent or Christmas – families and congregations sing to glorify God as candles glow.In the Qawwali music of Sufi Islam, voices weave together in devotion. In Hinduism there are bhajans, in Buddhism chants, all expressing the universal impulse to give voice to love and reverence. To return to Psalm 100, our songs will ring out as we enter God's gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.In a world that is so often fractured, communal singing produces both musical and spiritual harmony. So let us sing – not because custom demands it, but because love compels it. Through the simple and affirmative act of raising our voices together in this season of joy, and as members of the human race, we both convey and embody a crucial message: that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.

How are future pastors and deaconesses formed at Concordia Theological Seminary (CTSFW)? The Rev. Dr. Jon Bruss (President of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN) and the Rev. Matt Wietfeldt (Assistant Vice President of Admission at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN) join Andy and Sarah for our Set Apart to Serve series to talk about what they love about being at CTSFW, the church work programs CTSFW offers, what campus life looks like, some things that make formation at CTSFW unique, opportunities like Christ Academy and Symposia which serve the church at large, recruitment efforts for future church workers, and first steps for someone considering church work programs. Learn more at ctsfw.edu. Christ's church will continue until He returns, and that church will continue to need church workers. Set Apart to Serve (SAS) is an initiative of the LCMS to recruit church workers. Together, we pray for workers for the Kingdom of God and encourage children to consider church work vocations. Here are three easy ways you can participate in SAS: 1. Pray with your children for God to provide church workers. 2. Talk to your children about becoming church workers. 3. Thank God for the people who work in your congregation. To learn more about Set Apart to Serve, visit lcms.org/set-apart-to-serve. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.

Our King has come, is coming, and will come again. What does it mean to think of Jesus as "our coming King"? In this first lesson of the series, I ask us to consider the conversations before creation.The sermon today is titled "Before All Worlds." This sermon is the first installment in our series "The Coming King." The Scripture reading is from John 17:4-5 & Ephesians 1:4-5. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on December 7, 2025. All lessons fit under one of 6 broad categories: Begin, Instill, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under BEGIN: A Loving Christ.Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.Podcast Notes (resources used or referenced):Augustine, Confessions 11:12.Mark D. Roberts, Ephesians (Story of God Commentary Series)Joseph Mangina, Revelation (Brazos Theological Commentary Series)I'd love to connect with you!Watch sermons and find transcripts at nathanguy.com.Follow along each Sunday through YouTube livestream and find a study guide on the sermon notes page.Follow me @nathanpguy (facebook/instagram/twitter)Subscribe to my email newsletter on substack.

Chinese authorities have said the country will continue to be a major driver for global growth and other countries are welcome to share opportunities due to China's fast development and its vast market.

Masterpiece Audiobooks: Collection of Chinese Classic Novels

This slow-cooked lamb dish is a festive treat and it's super simple to make spectacular with a final flourish of pomegranate jewels and fresh herbs that make the whole thing feel properly celebratory. Ingredients 1 butterflied leg of lamb (1.6–2kg) 3–4 garlic cloves, slivered Zest and juice of 1 orange 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp runny honey 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp each ground cumin, ground coriander, smoked paprika 1 tsp flaky sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock ½ cup white wine (optional) To finish: Pomegranate seeds, mint leaves, flat-leaf parsley, extra orange zest Method Start by laying the lamb out flat and making small slits across the flesh so you can slip in those slivers of garlic. It's a tiny bit of extra effort but the flavour reward is enormous. In a small bowl whisk together the orange zest and juice, olive oil, honey, mustard, spices, salt, pepper and rosemary. Pour this over the lamb and give it a good massage so every little nook gets coated. If you've time to marinate it for a few hours or even overnight, do — the flavours deepen beautifully. When you're ready to cook, heat your oven to 170°C. Nestle the lamb into a roasting dish and pour any leftover marinade over the top. Add the stock and wine around the meat, then seal the whole dish tightly with foil. This is the trick to keeping the lamb meltingly tender. Slide it into the oven and leave it to slowly braise for about 2½ hours, checking halfway to make sure there's still a little liquid in the base. Once the lamb is lovely and soft, remove the foil and drain off some of the juices for a gravy. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C. Return the dish to the oven for 15 minutes so the edges caramelise and the top gets all sticky and gorgeous. Let the lamb rest for a good 15-20 minutes on a board or plate before slicing or pulling it into big, rustic chunks — it will be fall-apart tender. Pour the reserved pan juices back into the roasting dish. Mix 1 heaped tbsp of flour with some 2 tsps. soft butter to form a paste and add this to the roasting dish. Stir and simmer until it thickens a little for a gravy. To serve, pile it onto a platter and scatter over pomegranate seeds, mint, parsley and a final grating of orange zest. Serve gravy on the side. The colours are pure Christmas and the flavour is sunshine on a plate. Pair it with simple greens or a herby summer salad. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Primary is so much more than schedules, rolls, and meetings—it's a sacred opportunity to love, lift, and lead like the Savior. In this inspiring interview, we explore how Primary presidencies and leaders can transform everyday administration into meaningful ministry. Michelle Colledge lives in Cedar Hills, Utah with her husband, Rick, and their five children. She owns and coaches at Canyon Gymnastics and loves reading, traveling, and spending time with her family. She graduated from Utah Valley University, served a full-time mission in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission, and has served in various callings including stake Primary president, ward Primary president, and in several Primary and Young Women presidencies. Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community Key Insights Building Community: Michelle emphasizes the importance of creating a sense of community within Primary by engaging with children and their families, such as through home visits for birthdays, which fosters personal connections. Perceptive Leadership: Leaders should be observant and responsive to the needs of children, ensuring that every child feels valued and included. This includes recognizing when a child feels overlooked and taking steps to address it. Innovative Programming: The introduction of a stake Primary devotional allowed children to actively participate in leadership roles, such as greeters and speakers, which empowered them and made the event more engaging. Personalized Involvement: Michelle highlights the significance of knowing each child’s name and interests, which helps leaders connect on a deeper level and enhances the overall Primary experience. Flexibility in Leadership: Leaders should be willing to adapt and create new opportunities for service and connection, as demonstrated by the transition from traditional birthday celebrations to personalized home visits during COVID-19. Leadership Applications Foster Personal Connections: Latter-day Saint leaders can implement home visits or personalized notes to recognize children's milestones, enhancing their sense of belonging and importance within the community. Encourage Participation: By inviting children to take on roles in Primary programs, leaders can help them develop confidence and a sense of responsibility, making church activities more meaningful. Be Observant and Responsive: Leaders should regularly assess the dynamics within their Primary classes, looking for ways to support teachers and children, ensuring that everyone feels included and valued in the Primary experience. Highlights 00:04:28 – Transitioning from Ward to Stake Primary Presidency 00:06:04 – Finding Footing as Stake Primary President 00:08:19 – Monthly Presidency Meetings and Activities 00:10:19 – Yearly Primary Activity Planning 00:11:59 – Training for New Primary Presidencies 00:12:52 – Best Practices for Primary Presentations 00:16:25 – Creating a Reverent Atmosphere in Presentations 00:18:56 – Encouraging Children to Write Their Own Parts 00:19:56 – Engaging with Children in Primary 00:20:45 – Personal Connections with Children 00:25:13 – Connecting with Primary Presidencies in the Stake 00:27:11 – Perceiving Needs Like the Savior 00:29:19 – Inviting Children to Serve in Primary 00:34:56 – Organizing a Stake Primary Devotional 00:40:21 – Conclusion and Q&A Session The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

Jen Psaki introduces viewers to Rachel Maddow's new podcast, "Burn Order," about Japanese internment in the U.S. during World War II, and points out that unlike Americans of that era, Americans now are being much more outspoken in support of immigrants and in condemnation of Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies. Rachel Maddow joins to discuss Trump's use of anti-immigrant scapegoating as a means of giving himself more power.Rachel Maddow talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's cluelessness regarding U.S. aggression toward Venezuela while the administration's explanations change and don't make sense. Maddow notes that what appears to be happening is a regime-change war to get access to Venezuela's oil.Senator Jon Ossoff joins Jen to discuss the recent string of Democratic candidates outperforming expectations set in 2024.And Senator Ruben Gallego discusses another Democratic upset win, this time for mayor of Miami. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Harrison Bernstein is the founder of Soldiers To Sidelines (STS) and has served as executive director since May 2014. STS evolved from a passion project to a burgeoning nonprofit once Harrison resigned from coaching college and professional football to focus 100% on the STS mission. Harrison was able to attract key advisors and officers to help steward the mission. Since 2018, the board has grown to over 21 leaders in the military, sports, and business, and has built a staff of 9 employees. Harrison led his team to develop key partners and sponsors such as USO, Team RWB, Wounded Warrior Project, Women Veterans Alliance, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the Randy Walker Legacy Foundation and the NFL NY Jets. In fact, he was awarded the NFL Salute To Service Nomination by the NY Jets for the second time this past year. Most recently Harrison authored and published "The Everyday Coach: Harnessing the Magic of Influence." The book is provided free to every STS Soldier Coach and all profits from sales support Soldiers To Sidelines. Harrison also hosts "Harrison Bernstein's Everyday Coach," an accompanying podcast that highlights leadership lessons learned from military heroes, business executives, and coaches to steward the craft of coaching in everyday life. In the past, Harrison has coached football and sports performance for several teams in the NFL, NCAA DIV I, II, and III, and at the high school level. While coaching, Harrison taught in the Master's Program of Exercise Science at George Washington University for seven years. Harrison graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in Economics, was voted captain of the football team, and earned All American honors for three years and Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1997. Connect at www.SoldierstoSidelines.org BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John or one of our speaking team come to your school, club or coaching event? We are booking November and December 2025 and Winter/Spring 2026 events, please email us to set up an introductory call John@ChangingTheGameProject.com PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS, AND JOIN 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MCLAREN F1! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John's author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry's author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  Yeah, there are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you've been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. BECOME A PREMIUM MEMBER OF CHANGING THE GAME PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST If you or your club/school is looking for all of our best content, from online courses to blog posts to interviews organized for coaches, parents and athletes, then become a premium member of Changing the Game Project today. For over a decade we have been creating materials to help change the game. and it has become a bit overwhelming to find old podcasts, blog posts and more. Now, we have organized it all for you, with areas for coaches, parents and even athletes to find materials to help compete better, and put some more play back in playing ball. Clubs please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com for pricing.  Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our Premium Membership, with well over $1000 of courses and materials. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will be granted a Premium Changing the Game Project Membership, where you will have access to every course, interview and blog post we have created organized by topic from coaches to parents to athletes. Thank you for all your support these past eight years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're talking with Sarah Hooley, Executive Pastor at City Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 2016 by Lead Pastor Chris Freeman, City Church is a young, rapidly growing, intentionally multi-ethnic, multi-economic, and multi-generational church. Since moving from a setup/teardown environment into their renovated 60,000-square-foot facility, the church has experienced explosive growth—reaching 2,500–2,600 weekly attendees, baptizing nearly 500 people this year, and engaging a high percentage of unchurched and new-to-faith individuals. Is your church reaching people far from Jesus but struggling to disciple them well? Are you navigating the complexities that come with rapid growth? Tune in as Sarah shares how City Church reaches, welcomes, disciples, and mobilizes people who often arrive with little to no church background. Reaching the unchurched at scale. // From the beginning, City Church planted itself intentionally in one of Fort Wayne's most racially diverse neighborhoods. Many guests arrive with no church vocabulary. Many don't know the difference between the Old and New Testament or famous biblical characters. Teaching, therefore, is designed with zero assumptions, helping newcomers feel included while still deeply challenging long-time believers. Worship reflects the church's diversity, blending musical styles in a way that unites cultures rather than centering one preference. Many first-time attendees hear about the church through friends who aren't yet believers themselves—evidence that transformation is visibly taking root. Welcoming culture built by transformed people. // One of the most powerful forces shaping City Church is its culture of warmth and belonging. Their Connections Director, Victoria, came to Christ through City Church herself—giving her deep empathy for the unchurched experience and a passion for noticing people. Her team is trained not just to greet but to see people, engage them meaningfully, and make church feel safe and familiar. Serve teams are intentionally open to nonbelievers as a front door for community and spiritual curiosity—allowing people to “belong before they believe.” This relational warmth is often the defining difference-maker for guests who have never experienced church before. Discipleship for people with no foundation. // Rapid growth and a high percentage of new believers revealed a critical discipleship gap. In response, Pastor Chris launched Act Like Men, a 15-week, high-accountability discipleship course for young men covering identity, integrity, purity, humility, servanthood, and spiritual discipline. Women quickly asked for something similar, prompting the launch of Be Bold Women, a complementary course that includes teaching, mentoring, small groups, a women's conference, and topics like emotional health, community, and living as a godly woman. A volunteer-driven church with a tiny staff. // One of the most stunning aspects of City Church is how much ministry happens through volunteers rather than staff. With only seven full-time staff and roughly 2,600 attendees, their ratio is radically outside national norms. Staff serve as equippers, not doers. High-level volunteer leaders oversee major portions of ministry: shadowing, training, leading teams, scheduling people, and pastoring others. Leadership development is an essential form of discipleship, not an operational necessity. Leading from abundance, not scarcity. // Sarah encourages leaders to adopt a “loaves and fishes” mindset – the question is not what the church lacks but what God can do with what it has. Simplicity, clarity, and focus keep the team aligned. Staff calibrate constantly, coaching one another to resist the pull toward doing everything themselves. Sarah also stresses the importance of relational support systems for leaders—cohorts, mentors, and peers who remind pastors that faithfulness, not outcomes, is the goal. To learn more about City Church, visit forthecity.com, or follow them on social media at @citychurchfw. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Do you feel like your church’s or school's facility could be preventing growth? Are you frustrated or possibly overwhelmed at the thought of a complicated or costly building project? Are the limitations of your building becoming obstacles in the path of expanding your ministry? Have you ever felt that you could reach more people if only the facility was better suited to the community’s needs? Well, the team over at Risepointe can help! As former ministry staff and church leaders, they understand how to prioritize and help lead you to a place where the building is a ministry multiplier. Your mission should not be held back by your building. Their team of architects, interior designers and project managers have the professional experience to incorporate creative design solutions to help move YOUR mission forward. Check them out at risepointe.com/unseminary and while you’re there, schedule a FREE call to explore possibilities for your needs, vision and future…Risepointe believes that God still uses spaces…and they're here to help. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad that you’ve decided to tune in today. This is going to be a jam-packed episode. You’re going to want to buckle up. We’re talking about a lot of stuff today that applies to your church that I know will be super helpful. I’m excited to be talking to Sarah Hooley. She is the executive pastor at a church called City Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This is a church you should be tracking with. If you’re not, they were founded in 2016 by lead pastor Chris Freeman. It’s a diverse church in a city that is for the city with multi-ethnic, multi-economic, multi-generational community. It’s really, God’s doing some incredible things here, and you’re going to want to track along with that. And we’ve got Sarah on the show to help us. Sarah, welcome to the show. Sarah Hooley — Thank you so much for having me. It is a privilege to be joining you today. Rich Birch — Oh, this is going to be wonderful. I’m really looking forward to learning from you. Why don’t you tell us a little bit of the City Church story, kind of set up. Tell us a little bit about it. What’s going on Give us a sense of what’s happening at City Church. Sarah Hooley — Yeah, so we are a nine-year-old church plant. We were a set-up, teardown church for the last eight or so years ah seven and a half. We’ve move we bought a grocery store in 2020. Rich Birch — Good year. Sarah Hooley — Great time to buy a building, and and it was being used as a warehouse. And so we bought it and then the pandemic happened and we’re like, well, we still have a warehouse occupying the space. Maybe at some point it’ll become a church. We don’t know. And then it was just about a couple years ago that we then started a capital campaign and went to develop the the space. It’s 60,000 square feet. We developed about 40,000 square feet of it for our church. Rich Birch — Wow. Sarah Hooley — I’m thinking, man, that’s going to, we’ll be set for a good long time. And we are out of space already. Rich Birch — Yes. Sarah Hooley — And so and we moved from two services to three. And now we’re just, excuse me, trying to figure out what do we do? um God has just been moving in incredible ways. Like we have from the from the start been very intentional about wanting to be a multi-ethnic, multi-economic, multi-generational church. And where we planted has been very intentional. Sarah Hooley — So even where we were for set up and tear down, and we were right in the heart of the city where it was the most ethnically diverse within Fort Wayne. So Fort Wayne is roughly about 66% white in the city as a whole, but in our neighborhood specifically, it’s more 40% African-American, 20% white, 20-ish percent Hispanic. And so it is a much more racially diverse area. Rich Birch — So good. Sarah Hooley — And that is has been very intentional from the beginning. And so our location now, is it’s just been beautiful to see how God has really drawn people from every background. And, you know anyone who’s been a part of a multi-ethnic church knows that that that’s a messy process. It’s It is incredible to see, though, the the beauty and of what God can do when we are are not just attending a church together, but really in community with one another, and with people who come from radically different backgrounds um and and how that can really bring about a lot of healing in our stories and in our in our relationships. Rich Birch — So good. Sarah Hooley — And so um we have grown since moving into the building, we were about 800 people um when we were set-up/teardown. And then once we moved into the building, it has just been um exponential growth. So we we have grown very quickly and just tried to keep up with all of it. Sarah Hooley — One of the things that I’ve i’ve just loved about City Church is it’s very intentional about um reaching those who don’t know Jesus. And so the that really comes from our our lead pastor, from Pastor Chris Freeman, his heart for the lost. So a lot of our growth has not been transfer growth. It’s not just people moving from church to church, but really those who’ve never set foot in a church, those who are, or who ah are really far from Jesus. It’s been a long time. Sarah Hooley — And the greatest evidence of that, that we’ve seen is we are on track to have 500 baptisms this year. Rich Birch — Wow. Oh my goodness. Sarah Hooley — That has just blown our minds. Rich Birch — That’s incredible. Sarah Hooley — Like we, We had to move up ah the frequency of our baptisms to every six weeks because we just could not keep up with all of the people who wanted to get baptized. Rich Birch — We’re not baptizing enough. That’s amazing. Wow. That’s incredible. Sarah Hooley — But we we’re about 430 right now, and I have over 70 people registered for this next upcoming one in December. Sarah Hooley — So it has just it has been a wild ride… Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Sarah Hooley — …of um seeing God move in such phenomenal ways, and and just try to be faithful along the way. How do we steward these people well? Rich Birch — So good. Sarah Hooley — How do we continue to point them to Jesus? How do we encourage them to grow in their faith and to take those next steps of what it looks like to follow him? So it’s… Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. There’s a ton we could we could unpack there, and maybe we’ll have you on in the future to talk. I um, you know, we’ve said it in the past on the podcast, every zip code in the country is more diverse today than it was 10 years ago, and 10 years from now, it will be more diverse, and our churches need to continue to progress towards reflecting the kingdom of God and being, as you’re saying, multi-ethnic. Rich Birch — And so there’s a ton we could we could learn from you on that. Maybe we’ll have you back in the future to talk about that. Cause I, that is definitely a thing I think we all can, can learn from, but I’d love to kind of key in on what you were talking there about. Hey, your church has a heart for, which I think lots of churches do have a heart for reaching people, who don’t know Jesus, but it’s like actually happening at your church, ah which is incredible. Rich Birch — So what were some early signs, you know, that you realize, or what are some of the signs that you realize, oh, this is actually happening. Like we’re actually reaching people. Baptism is one of them. Can you think of any other signs that were like, oh, we we’re reaching people who, who this is a brand new thing for them? Sarah Hooley — Yeah. So I mean, baptism was definitely a big sign of like, wow, these are, these are people who are, are new to following Jesus and taking that, that first step. And in our conversations with people who are preparing to be baptized, um, that, that was a part. It’s so funny, just, just this last week, uh, somebody posted on their Facebook page, uh, City Church choir is better than the club for real. Rich Birch — I love it. Love it. That’s great. Sarah Hooley — And they didn’t, like we don’t have, we didn’t have a choir. It’s our worship team, but like they don’t even know the words for what that worship team is. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Yeah. They don’t know the words yet. Sarah Hooley — And, and the comments after that, like it, it truly was showing that we, we are drawing and attracting people who, who like, they’ve they’ve never really considered going to church. And then in our conversations with people, as they’ve realized, like, man, I do want this. I want to follow this Jesus. Like, this makes sense. This is incredible. But you just can’t assume anything. Rich Birch — No. Sarah Hooley — Like, they there’s no foundational understanding of what that looks like. There’s no, and and I think even just, there’s no understanding of even like what some sins are. Like, there’s just not like, oh, I didn’t even, not even realizing that like, that’s not a good idea to continue. So we’ve had, we have people who are like, yes, I want to follow Jesus. And then they’re still sleeping with their girlfriend. They’re still, you know, like it’s and it’s like… Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah. 100%. Sarah Hooley — …oh, I didn’t, I didn’t even know… Rich Birch — The thing. Sarah Hooley — …that that was something that you shouldn’t do. Rich Birch — Yes. Sarah Hooley — And so really being able to, to come alongside and say, okay, man, we have to go back to the basics. We can’t assume anything. It’s gonna… Rich Birch — That’s good. Sarah Hooley — And it really has set the tone, even in just the way that Chris preaches and and all of our our pastors preach that we don’t make assumptions when we’re talking about scripture. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Sarah Hooley — So allowing um there not to be any barriers or or anything that would create a place where people would feel like, man, like everybody else knows what he’s talking about, but I don’t. And so like just the way that you set things up and explain things and introduce people. So you don’t don’t just assume that everybody knows who Joseph is from the Old Testament. Rich Birch — 100%. Right. Sarah Hooley — Like you have to be like, Hey, this is this guy. And so I think that that has led us to like, Chris does such a great job on Sunday mornings, but man, there’s, there’s so much more that we need to do as far as for people to truly learn what it means to follow Jesus when they don’t have much of a background. Like it’s going to take some more intentional discipleship that, um that we do. So that that has been really a process of of recognition that we even people who are coming on a Sunday… Rich Birch — Right. Sarah Hooley — …they’re excited about Jesus, there’s still some gaps there. Rich Birch — Sure. I’d love to talk. We’re going to get into the discipleship question, but I just want to pause just before we get there. And so um what do you think God’s using to help your church engaged? You know, in different circles of the Christian world, it’s called different things. Unchurched people, seekers, people who follow Jesus, people new to the faith, you know. So the teaching, I agree. That’s like a best practice around, um ah you know, taking time to explain. It takes three sentences to explain instead of just saying, well, you all know Joseph. Sarah Hooley — Yeah. Rich Birch — He’s an example, which is just lazy preaching. You should take a few sentences, explain it. But what else is God using you think to, ah you know, to help your church reach so many unchurched people? Sarah Hooley — Yeah, you know, so we we really have, the the teaching is significant. Rich Birch — Yep. Sarah Hooley — And that’s one of the things that I have just been blown away. So I grew up as a pastor’s kid, went to Bible college, went to seminary, like… Rich Birch — Yep. Sarah Hooley — …biblical, like good, solid biblical teaching is such a huge priority for me. Rich Birch — Yep. Sarah Hooley — And the thing that I think has been unique is that Chris has a way of communicating with those who have never been in church and and helping them to to see a clear picture of who Jesus is and challenging the deep disciples. Those who’ve been following Jesus their whole life. And yet, man… Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good. Sarah Hooley — …the way that he brings light to scripture and, and even just like points out some, like, this is what it means to live this out. Rich Birch — That’s good. Sarah Hooley — That has made such a big difference. And then, so we really have had this, this drawing of, of those who have been followers… Rich Birch — So good. Sarah Hooley — …who then can invest in those who are new believers. But also we have, and it and it is beautiful, like a really dynamic worship time that is incredible. And one of the things that’s unique about it is it’s because we’re multi-ethnic, you can’t just go in one kind of genre of music, like it really is a blend. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. Sarah Hooley — And so there’s something about it that um it it’s not all of anyone’s preferences, but you’re like, oh man, like I love this part of it. And then, well, this part’s new and different, but okay, I can I can get on board with it. And so I think those that combination, um but there’s there’s another factor and that’s, that really is in the culture that’s been set in how we are a welcoming church. Sarah Hooley — And so our connections director is somebody who came to faith in our church. So she she started following Jesus, like she had no church background whatsoever, started following Jesus, um started really growing in her discipleship. Her name is Victoria. And it it has been such a beautiful thing to see how she has has such a heart for Jesus and heart for others. And so she’s continued to invest in her team… Rich Birch — It’s great. Sarah Hooley — …in like, how do we make people feel welcome from the beginning? How do we not just say hello and let them walk by, but like really see people? Sarah Hooley — And she has really invested in her connection team on like, how is that an opportunity for discipleship? And so one of the things is you can you can join our greet team. You can join our parking lot team. You can join our coffee team and not be a believer. But the heart behind it is like, is you’re still investigating who Jesus is. Like we hope that you’re rubbing shoulders with someone who is following after him. Rich Birch — Yeah, make some friends, right? Yeah, absolutely. Sarah Hooley — And you have those conversations and that relationship has grown um through that. And you’re you get a picture of of who Jesus is. Rich Birch — So good. Sarah Hooley — And so um like there there it’s just this multifaceted thing that has happened um that really is like when you come, you’re like man, I want to be a part of this. And so we have like, that’s the crazy thing. We have people who are not followers of Jesus inviting their friends, Rich Birch — Yeah, 100%. That’s great. Sarah Hooley — …like new church is better than the club for real. Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that’s great. Sarah Hooley — Like they’re inviting their friends to come and… Rich Birch — So good. Sarah Hooley — …and be a part of this because there’s just something happening here. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Okay, let’s talk about the discipleship issue. So ah you didn’t say this, I said it, but one of the problems with the church in general is a lot of our discipleship systems assume a fairly high level of actually understanding of scripture. And our church shares a similar heartbeat. We’ll normally see, one of the things a new year guest come through in our church. We don’t ask them a lot, but one of the questions we do ask is for them to describe their kind of faith background before they came. And we’re consistently above 50%. It’s usually 60, 75% of people would describe themselves as something that we would label as unchurched. Rich Birch — And so I understand the discipleship problem. In lots of churches it just you just assume people know stuff and they grow closer to Jesus, but that’s not the case. So how are you helping move people towards being fully discipled followers of Jesus? What does that look like for City Church? Sarah Hooley — Yeah, so we we do, we have loved using Alpha for for those who really still are in that questioning phase and like they’re not even sure. And like they may not, they might may not feel comfortable coming to City Church, but they would come to somebody’s house and walk through Alpha. So that’s been really great for those who are kind of trying to still discover who Jesus is. Sarah Hooley — But for specific discipleship, because we were realizing, man, there’s just some some gaps here, Chris decided to launch a 15-week discipleship course for young men specifically. Rich Birch — Love it. Sarah Hooley — And we really saw, like we are we are a pretty young church. I mean, always have been, but that there was some some pretty serious gaps in and not only like, what does it mean to follow Jesus, but even what does it mean like what does it mean to be a godly man? And so wanting to have, to bring alongside some intentional mentors and people who can invest in these young men. Sarah Hooley — So um he invited people, but it was a very high accountability, high expectation sort of class. They meet at 6 a.m. on Thursday mornings. Rich Birch — Yeah. Wow. Sarah Hooley — That is not something everybody wants to sign up for. It was… Rich Birch — Yeah, no, not every guy wants to do that. I can say that. Sarah Hooley — No, it is it is a huge sacrifice. Rich Birch — Yep. Sarah Hooley — And he said, this is going to require a lot of you. Rich Birch — Right. Sarah Hooley — And they actually have a crazy. Like if you are, if anyone is late, any single person is late, even five seconds, the whole group does pushups together… Rich Birch — Oh, no. Yeah. Okay, that’s cool. Sarah Hooley — …and not in a shaming way, but in a like, Hey, we’re inviting you to something great. Rich Birch — Right. Sarah Hooley — And part of, part of following Jesus is is it’s going to need incorporate discipline in your life. And so we have, we are called to have discipline. And so we’re going to really keep you accountable to this. Sarah Hooley — And so he does um he he talks through, like what does it mean to be a godly man? Talks about identity, talks about discipline, talks about integrity, purity, humility, servanthood. So he’ll do a ah teaching, and then they break off into groups with two leaders. So each group usually has about six six guys who are participants and two leaders who are older men in the church who have um that Chris has identified and recruited. And then they have a small group time. Sarah Hooley — So It has been so incredible to see how God is working, not only through his teaching, but really through that accountability… Rich Birch — That’s good. Sarah Hooley — …and like digging into what does this look like in our lives? And, and then those leaders are, are following up with them and encouraging them throughout the week. They, they do, they, they challenge, they come up with their own challenges. And as like, okay, we’re going to memorize this passage of scripture. And then they, then they like, all right, how did you, did you memorize this? Most of these guys have never memorized scripture in their lives. Rich Birch — Right. Right. Sarah Hooley — And so, even though some of those practices have been really incredible. And he he calls the class Act Like Men. And it really is so, and he makes it very clear, this is not about talking about what what is the difference between a man and a woman. This is talking about what’s the man and a boy. Sarah Hooley — Like we are calling you to be godly men and intentionally calling you up to to live out as godly men, not selfish boys. And so that, that has been beautiful. There was about, um, I think he had about 60 participants the first time he he ran it… Rich Birch — Wow. Sarah Hooley — …with 25 leaders. And then this next, um, this heat currently they’re they’re walking through it right now and there’s 100 guys and 30 leaders. Rich Birch — Wow. Sarah Hooley — It also requires, and they have to pay $100 and that goes right back into them. Like it’s for some resources that they are given. But again, it gives that like, hey, this is a high threshold. This isn’t just a casual thing. Rich Birch — Right. Sarah Hooley — They also cannot miss more than three sessions. If they do, they are asked to step away and if they can join again in a future time. Rich Birch — Take it again or whatever. Yeah. Sarah Hooley — So super high high high… Rich Birch — And is it the idea that it’s going to rotate like kind of a couple seasons a year or something like that? How what what’s the thinking on that? Sarah Hooley — Yeah. Rich Birch — Like how often are you going to run it or what’s that? What’s that look like? Sarah Hooley — Yeah. So, so what we’ve done so far is, um, the men’s course is in the fall. And then, um, after last, last fall, the first time that, that Chris did it, there was such an out, like lot of the wives and the girlfriends and the people who were just connected with these guys, they were like, man, this has been so incredible. Like, what do you have for women? Like, when are we going to have our, our course? Sarah Hooley — And so that really sparked. And I was like, I’m too busy to do this right now, but like, I can’t not do it. So, um my kids, pastor, and I developed Be Bold Women’s, which was a complimentary course for women. And so the men is in the fall and the women starts in January. And we go through the spring and do kind of a similar, we follow a lot of the same topics, although we did choose some different ones, a couple of specific one… Rich Birch — Sure. Sarah Hooley — …that we felt really convicted that, like we do one of our lessons is on emotions and like, what is a healthy, godly way to approach and process, and how are emotions a part of our life? We also talk about community. So there’s just a couple of different topics that we walk through with the women. Sarah Hooley — We also incorporated women’s conference as a part of it that we then opened up to the rest of the church. So everyone in the church could come to the conference. We had our own people speaking at it, our own worship team leading worship. And we had about 300 women at this conference. Rich Birch — Wow. That’s great. Sarah Hooley — And it was just, it was a great start, like jumpstart to our time together in the course, but then also with our larger community. Rich Birch — There’s a lot there I’d love to ask questions about. So my impression of City Church just looking in, don’t know your church well, but follow online. And, you know, I don’t get the vibe from you guys that there’s like, I don’t know, like an overly machismo kind of like, you know, ah like in a negative way. Like, you know, you know you know what I mean? There’s some churches out there. You’re like, okay, they’re like a little too much into the man/woman thing. Sarah Hooley — Uh-huh. Rich Birch — And, and I don’t know how to say that nicely and not like step on people’s toes. I don’t get that vibe from you guys, but this, but you’ve, you’ve obviously taken, taken a gendered approach. Can you unpack that a little bit? Help me understand how is that it’s obviously been super helpful. So, but just kind of talk through that issue. Help me understand that. What’s that look like for you guys? Sarah Hooley — Yeah, we really saw their there just was a need to have those intentional conversations um really of older men investing in younger men, and older women investing in younger women. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good. Yeah, that’s good. Sarah Hooley — And so um there are things that, there are conversations that you can have when it’s just men, that you add one woman into that mix and it’s gonna change some of those conversations. Rich Birch — Sure. Sarah Hooley — And some of the things that, especially when it comes to kind of the harder accountability parts of of those conversations, it’s going it’s just gonna look differently. If if somebody’s trying to impress somebody else, like that’s going to be an issue. Sarah Hooley — But I think, I think really, even though we’re not a overly like machismo, there’s, that’s still a part of our culture. Rich Birch — Sure. Sarah Hooley — And so I think Chris really wanted to be sure that he, he tackled that kind of toxic masculinity approach. Rich Birch — Yep. Sarah Hooley — And, and like, that is not biblical masculinity. Rich Birch — No. Sarah Hooley — Like this, this idea of, you know, I’m the man. And we’re, but like, that’s not what, and and so really continuing to call them back to that, that being a true man is not the world’s version of, of power and money and having the beautiful wife or girlfriend. It really is about following Jesus’ example. He is the greatest example of what a godly man looks like. Rich Birch — Yeah. Sarah Hooley — So what does that look like? Rich Birch — Yeah. What’s that look like? Sarah Hooley — So that means humility and servanthood and sacrifice and laying down your life for others. And so how do we live that out? Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s good. Sarah Hooley — And then for our women, it it it has been so powerful to be able to have those those deep conversations and um and challenging them to live this out. Sarah Hooley — And you know when you have people who are coming from, like they they don’t have um maybe those older women or men in their lives who have been investing in them and showing them what it looks like to follow Jesus or to live this out. It’s still brand new. And so there’s still, there’s some some space to have those questions be brought. Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s good. Sarah Hooley — And um like, why shouldn’t I return to this abusive boyfriend? Rich Birch — Right. Yep. Sarah Hooley — Why shouldn’t I like, so like being able to deal with some of those really hard conversations in a really healthy way that that comes back to scripture and comes back to like, this is what God wants for you. Rich Birch — Yeah. Sarah Hooley — And um and it’s and it’s hard, like following Jesus is hard. Like there is nothing easy about that… Rich Birch — Yes, yes. Yeah. Sarah Hooley — But it’s so worth it. Rich Birch — Yeah. Sarah Hooley — And I think that being able to put that in front of people. But you know, those are two courses that we have. We have lots of small groups and mid-sized groups and groups that are that are mixed gender. And like there’s some beautiful things from that, too. These two courses specifically are just a little bit unique in in their approach. Rich Birch — That’s good. So as you’ve kind of watched this roll through as an XP, you know, go people go through these experiences, what what kind of changes have you seen in the broader church culture? Like, has there, you know, what have you seen that like, oh, hey, there’s something happening here that that seems to be having a positive impact or negative, I’m assuming there’s positive, that’s been kind of impacting the church culture. Talk to me about that. Sarah Hooley — Yeah, I I you really start to see um just that that growth, the idea that this is, you know, that that view of discipleship that’s a long obedience in the same direction. That is what we are are experiencing. You know, with so many people who are new believers, there are some great breakthrough moments and that is worth celebrating, but it is a long process. And so um I think really being able to come alongside and and watch watch those who are like, they were, they’re excited about Jesus. They’re pumped. They’re going lift their hands and worship. They’re going to be like, join the team. But to go beyond that to, okay, what does this actually look like in my life? And to see them begin to make changes in how they actually live that out. um That they’re not just, okay, this is my Sunday thing. And then I go and I do my weekly thing, um but truly changing. And that like that’s profound. It’s profound to see God work in such powerful ways. Sarah Hooley — And again, it’s not it’s never overnight, like there’s overnight breakthroughs, but it’s always a process. And I think that that like watching the the development of these courses is like there’s gonna be things you’re confronting in week one. And then you might still be confronting in week 10. You might still be confronting in week 15. But there’s there’s growth. And there’s um it doesn’t mean that they’ve been able to overcome everything, but you you can see that that change in them. And that draws people. Sarah Hooley — And so I think that we we’ve been able so to so clearly see even just the growth in the number of guys who who joined the course the first time and then the growth in the second second time through that people are hearing about it and being like, I want to be a part of this. Sarah Hooley — Like I saw what it did in my friend’s life. And like, that’s like, I know it’s 6am, but it’s worth it. I’m going to make the sacrifice. I’m going to be a part of it. And so I think that that that kind of invitation to discipleship where you see what the effect it’s having. And then that brings others in. And they’re like, I want what he has. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Sarah Hooley — Like, I, I’ve, I know who Jesus is, but I, Idon’t want it just to be a yeah, I know who Jesus is. I want to actually know Jesus. Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s fantastic. Friends that are listening in. I one of the one of the changes I for sure have seen in people who are arriving at our churches is, this is a problem when you’ve been at this long enough, like decades ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, people did kind of just stumble into church. Like that actually did happen, but that’s not happening today. Rich Birch — People, when they arrive, they’re they’re arriving with real questions and are looking for, they’re not looking for us, they’re not looking for our ideas, they want Jesus and they wanna know what that looks like. So I love this this idea of calling people to something That is a little more, you know, that’s, it’s not just the like, well, we’re going to to make it super easy. That’s not what it’s about. Sarah Hooley — Yeah. Right. Yeah. Rich Birch — I think makes a lot of sense. Well, I want to pivot to it just a totally different conversation. As we were getting ready for this, one of the things that caught my attention, and you’re a humble leader, Jesus has formed your life. So like you didn’t lead off with like your attendance numbers and all that. You talked about growth, but you didn’t really go there. What what are you averaging right now? Attendance wise, where are you at? Sarah Hooley — Yeah, we’re about 2,500 to 2,600 right now. Rich Birch — Okay. And how many full-time staff do you have as as a team? Sarah Hooley — Oh, we have seven full-time staff. Now, we do have some part-time roles that are high level… Rich Birch — Sure. Sarah Hooley — …but we are a skeleton staff. Rich Birch — Yes. Okay. So to put that in context, like, I, this is why want to hear more about this. How, how are you doing that? So to put make some context that people are listening in, um there’s a kind of a well kind of oiled benchmark out there that says churches should really shoot for 1 to 75 attendees and staff. And, you know, ah really great churches are maybe one to a hundred. Like that would be amazing if you could get that. I think the math on you guys is one to like 350 or something like that. Sarah Hooley — Yep. Rich Birch — Even if it’s like, okay, those those other equivalents, even if they end up being say you have another three full-time people in all those part-time. So you’re 10 full-time equivalents. That’s still like one to 250. So like, this is a significant lesson, friends. We need to learn from. Rich Birch — So it’s like, I really just want to say, talk. Like what systems and philosophies make that happen? Sarah Hooley — Yeah. Rich Birch — How do you, you know, how are you able to make that happen? Talk us through that. Sarah Hooley — Yeah. Well, we are trying to hire. So there are some roles that we definitely know that we need. Rich Birch — Yes. You got a long ways to go though. Even if you doubled your staff, you still would be like one to 125, which is still very high. You know, that’s great. Sarah Hooley — Yeah. And this has been one of the unique things about being a multi-ethnic church and a multi-ethnic church that’s reaching new believers. The the the financial support, it takes longer. Like financial discipleship, it’s a process. And and in a um you know within our community, there’s a significant like where we our church specifically is, there’s a significant number of people who are below the poverty line. And so that just means that where our budget is not going to be as large. Sarah Hooley — But so like we have always, and I think part of it is going from that church plant model to even having an established church. Like we’ve always had to be scrappy. Like you always have had to, like I started as a volunteer and I wanted to do a women’s conference. And then someone came and said, I heard that you’re leading the women’s ministry. And I was like, what? Like I didn’t, I just wanted to lead this women’s conference. Sarah Hooley — But just the the way that, um you know, we have continued to to philosophically want to equip the body to be the ministers. That it’s not just, oh, we can just hire somebody to do that. But for every staff person being so intentional about choosing staff members who can be equippers, who are not looking to just do ministry, but who are looking to equip others to do the ministry. And so those who can develop and be leaders of leaders. And that that really has been a part of our heart um in the beginning out of necessity. But also as we’ve continued to grow, um we’ve found there’s just been incredible fruit, because it calls the whole church body into being a part of what’s going on. Sarah Hooley — And so there is nothing more powerful and significant than saying like, yeah, I am I am a significant like participant, I am leading within this church in in a significant way that creates such buy-in. And so like that has really made a difference in in, I think, our church culture and and in just people so staying with us and saying like, man, there’s there’s there’s something happening here. I wanna be a part of it. And um being identified in like, given the opportunity to lead in those ways. And so um we are very, we are slow to hire because we’re kind of a unique, um we have a unique church culture and unique church body… Rich Birch — For sure. Sarah Hooley — …and we want our staff to reflect our church body and to to have buy-in. So I would, so the majority of our staff really are people who have come from the church body itself. So we we only have had very few outside hires um because we know that they understand who we are, they they understand kind of what we’ve been called to do. Sarah Hooley — And so that has been the most, like we have one full-time kids pastor… Rich Birch — Wow. Sarah Hooley — …for 400 children. And she has an associate who’s also very high level and she’s incredible too. Um, but they have done such an incredible job of identifying, okay, within our kids ministry, within our volunteers, who are those people who, who can lead others and who have a heart for developing others. Sarah Hooley — And so, um, so they’ve broken down the different areas and they have leads over each of those individual areas where they’re doing some of the scheduling. So like identifying those administrative skills, like people who have people skills as well as administrative skills. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Sarah Hooley — But so the role of our of our kids pastor is to you know set the vision and invest in our leaders. And then they are then the ones who are are working through some of those logistics of what it looks like when it comes to staffing or when it comes to volunteers um and being fully like, oh, it’s a whole lot of children. We have a lot of kids. Rich Birch — Yes, that’s amazing. I’d I’d love to double click on some of that there. So this idea of leaders of leaders does not surprise me that, um you know, I it’s like one of these when I heard this, I’m like, I don’t even know anything about this. But I know that you the only way you get to that kind of ratio is you’ve empowered volunteers to actually lead things. Rich Birch — There’s a humbling thing you could do. Church leaders that are listening in do it. Do a giant org chart. Spend two hours and do a giant org chart on a whiteboard. Like literally draw out who is who leads who all the way down to every role in the church and then circle the people that are staff. And oftentimes what you find is there are no leaders of leaders that are volunteers. And they’re just that that’s a that’s a key distinction. How do we get and and how do we keep our staff being Ephesians 4 leaders, people who equip the saints to do the work? Sarah Hooley — Yes. Rich Birch — So give me some of the telltale signs that you that you see in volunteers that, hey, this person is could lead at a high level. And what does the equipping look like? How are you helping them step into that? Sarah Hooley — Yeah, we really do view leadership as discipleship. And so, um, so even for our volunteers, we want to identify people, for them to step into a leadership role like that, that relationship with Jesus, that that’s strong connection to to him is is key. Sarah Hooley — So like that is first and for foremost across across all of our leadership teams. So even though I mentioned earlier that we have some of our serve teams that you can join the team and not be a believer, but for the people who are leading those people, we want them to be following Jesus. Sarah Hooley — And then just looking for those who also love people and have that heart for like, I want to have the conversations that, you know, something is is going on in someone’s life and they’re having a hard time, I’m going to follow up with them during the week. And so um so that love for Jesus, that love for people in some of these roles, it it is some administrative ability. Like, can you handle scheduling people? Like there’s there’s just like, are you able to complete some of those things, some of the doing aspects of ministry? Sarah Hooley — But even within our within our high level leader volunteer leaders, like they’re actually then finding other volunteers who are are doing some of those roles as well. So I think that that has been a process. So it’s looking at who who do we have in front of us? Like who are the people who are like bought in? They see the mission. They’re they’re passionate about what we’re doing. They care about what we’re doing. um And then inviting them into that next step of leadership. Sarah Hooley — A lot of times it’s we kind of give them a chance to kind of test it out first before just throwing them to the wolves so that they can kind of see like like shadowing somebody who already is currently doing something like that to get their feet wet, to kind of understand the the scope of the role. We don’t ever want to ask somebody to to step into a role that they aren’t, that they’re like, I don’t have the capacity for this. And so, but there’s there’s lots of development still along the way of like conversations of like, of of our actual staff members, checking in with them and helping them to like navigate problems and helping them to to think through like how to process, um you know, that they even are invited to bring feedback of like, hey, here are some things that we’re seeing, like what’s a way that we can then approach that together? So like really they they have a great voice into into how things are being run. Rich Birch — That’s good. One of the tensions that happens in a lot of churches is staff, our staff start to think like the kind of important people are people who have full-time staff that report to them. There’s like this insidious pull towards, I’m going to build my little kingdom. And like this is really common, like lots of churches struggle with that. It can be difficult. Rich Birch — How are you developing your, particularly the the culture with your staff team to ensure that they stay focused on leading volunteers rather than, you know, just hiring people? Like, let’s just hire somebody. How do we, how do how are you what are you doing there? Beyond the like, well, we can’t afford it. There’s got to be something else you’re doing to try to help them, you know, develop that. Sarah Hooley — Yeah, feeling missed out on the budget is really helpful. Rich Birch — Well, because, well, and yeah, but the but my pushback would be friendly pushback as as one leader to another is like that resource things are going to get sorted out. And it’s going to come to a time where you have resources to be able to do that. And it could be very tempting to say, let’s just go quadruple the size of our staff. So how are you ensuring that the culture isn’t going to do that? Sarah Hooley — Yeah. And so much of that is through through our coaching, through the way that we talk about this. This is something like we have these calibrating conversations all the time of of this is who we are and this is what we’re about. And this is what it looks like to lead here. That we um and and that And to be totally candid, like that has been a challenge where we had a staff person and as we grew, um could not make that transition of from doing to leading others and and delegating. Sarah Hooley — And so like that that is a challenge of, and and just thinking like, oh man, all we need to do is just add more staff and then I would be okay. And instead of really recognizing like, no, our our heart behind this is inviting the church to be the church. That that, Letting them know that that priesthood of all believers, like we are all called um to do ministry. Sarah Hooley — Ministry is not just for those who have a degree or those who have a title. Like we are called into ministry. And so keeping that before our our leaders and our staff so that they are keeping it before the the people that they’re calling into these volunteer leader roles. Sarah Hooley — And I will say like those who are the volunteers, like they, they’re excited. They’re excited about like, man, like you just invited me into this position. Like you’ve asked, you’ve seen, you saw something in me and asked me to, um to lead in this way and to serve in this way. And it’s, it’s a privilege to do that. But it is also like continuing to put that before us. Like we we are investing in our people. Sarah Hooley — Now, some of our future staff members might come from those who are volunteer leaders. And like and like that’s a beautiful thing because we’re like, man, I already know, I can see how you would operate in this role and how you would fit on our team and how you would keep how you you do get the culture and what what we’re trying to do. And I think that that’s that’s really a beautiful thing. Sarah Hooley — But it is it is a lot of conversation, a lot of coaching, and just a reminder of like, and I think part of it too is is realizing like, we can’t do everything. And so being very intentional to not be overly programmed. To be very clear about, we’re going do these things, like these very simple. Rich Birch — Right. Sarah Hooley — And so that’s where it’s like, it seems so simple. It seems so basic, but we’re going do these simple, basic things and do them faithfully. And um and then, yeah, see what God does. Rich Birch — Trust God for the results. Yeah, that’s fantastic. Yeah. And listen, you know it makes sense that you’ll end up hiring some people because it’s like that’s a little bit of a crazy ah you know ratio. And you know I think that’ll be that’ll be a challenge ahead to keep that focused as you add those people. And it’s not unreasonable to say to your team like, oh, yeah, like we probably should add a few people. Rich Birch — But to still champion at the end of the day, I think that’s like there’s a key piece there that you mentioned. It’s like this idea of championing the people who have been able to make that transition. And I’ve like, I got us like hey, ah it’s about developing leaders and I want to make that happen. And I know that might be messy and there’s other problems with that, but that’s you know that’s good. Rich Birch — It’s been a fantastic conversation. For people who are listening in today who might feel that kind of like, oh my goodness, we’re under-resourced, we’re you know are outnumbered, we don’t have enough people. Help us think through, kind of talk to us a little bit from an even mindset or how we lead point of view to kind of lead from abundance rather than from scarcity. Because a part of what I don’t hear you saying is like, oh, woe is me. Rich Birch — Like you’re like, no, this is just what God’s called us to in this season. We’re going to make it happen. And God’s doing a great thing. So try to encourage us, yeah help us think that through. Sarah Hooley — Yeah. Well, I would, I mean, I would first of all say you’re not alone. So if you feel, if you do feel overwhelmed and outnumbered and under-resourced, like you’re not alone. And so I think that that is is helpful to be like, man, I’m not. And I think that’s where like even having podcasts like this, where you’re able to hear from others, we’re like, oh, man, OK, we’re in this together. We are all doing the mission that God has called us to. And there are challenges that come with that. And and that can be really discouraging and hard. And yet, like, I think when we can have that kind of. loaves and fishes mindset of like the disciples, they could not feed those people. Like they could not fit fill all the needs that were before them. But Jesus could. Sarah Hooley — And so if we can be faithful to say, okay, God, what do we have? What do we have? Like, what do we have in front of us? And how do we use that for your glory? And what what does that look like? What what are the things that we need to like have that laser focus on um so that we can then continue to see what you are going to do with with what we bring. Sarah Hooley — And and I think that there is that reliance on God to um to say like, you’re the one who does the work. Like this is not, and I think that helps us to like, it takes away that that pride and also that just overwhelming feeling feeling of sometimes failure when it’s, it’s not, when we realize that it’s not all on me… Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s good. Sarah Hooley — …like this is not like my responsibility is to be faithful and continuing to be faithful, to follow what God has called me to do. And that means, I mean, that means working hard. That means best practices. That means learning from others, but I am not responsible for the the end result. So how do I just be intentional and faithful with what God has given me? Sarah Hooley — And, and, and I think too, I think it’s really important to, to find others who are also in the journey with you. Rich Birch — That’s good. Sarah Hooley — That you can, that not that you just get together and complain, but that you can really come alongside each other and encourage one another. And that, That has been one of the most significant things that I have found in in stepping into this role. I got connected with a women executive pastor cohort of women all over the country who are leading in this in similar roles. Sarah Hooley — And being able to just ask questions of other church leaders, being able to say, will you pray for me? Like, I’m going through something really difficult right now. Will pray for me? That has encouraged me personally to be able to keep pressing on when it does feel overwhelming or it does feel like, man, the the task is too great for me. To be reminded and to have other pastors in like my corner and in my ear saying, remember who God is and remember what he’s called you to. Rich Birch — That’s good. Sarah Hooley — And so I think that that is just, it’s, if we can keep that in view and that in, in that mindset in view, that that God is so much greater than the most difficult person at your church who is louder than all of the others. And, um and God is greater than the the greatest problems that you are facing and the, the difficulties that you’re walking through. And, and so like, I think just looking for those, those things. Rich Birch — So good. Sarah, this has been such a helpful conversation. I really appreciate you being here today and investing in us. And it’s fantastic, super encouraging and lots of good nuggets in there. I got pages of notes here. If people want to track with you or with the church, where do we want to send them online? Sarah Hooley — Yeah. We I mean we’re on um Instagram and Facebook. We’re forthecity.com is our church website. We are not on TikTok yet. We’re not that cool. I don’t know. Someday we’ll we’ll get there. Rich Birch — Nice. That’s fun. Sarah Hooley — But yeah, that’s that’s the primary way. Rich Birch — That’s great. Thanks so much. Thanks for being here today. Sarah Hooley — Thank you so much.

Looking to boost your organization's profitability with smarter cost analysis? In this engaging episode of Count Me In, host Adam Larson sits down with Colleen Whitmore, Partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP and co-author of the Deloitte and IMA article "Unlocking Profitability Insights." Colleen breaks down the ins and outs of cost to serve analysis, sharing why it's a game changer for companies seeking hidden profit opportunities and better decision-making. Hear Colleen's take on why most organizations still aren't using these powerful tools, what holds them back, and how advances in technology are making detailed cost analysis more accessible than ever. She shares practical advice on preparing your finance teams for innovation, overcoming common data challenges, and the first steps leaders should take to get started. Whether you're a finance professional, business leader, or just curious about the latest trends in cost management, this episode will deliver real-world insights and actionable tips straight from an industry thought leader. Don't miss Colleen's fresh perspective on how to transform your organization's approach to profitability!

Wednesday Evening- Pastor Larson- Romans 7:5-25

What can I learn from the story of Joseph? That God gives hope, wisdom, forgiveness, and family.The sermon today is titled "God Gives Family." This sermon is the fourth installment in the series "Joseph's Journey." The Scripture reading is from Genesis 46-50. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on August 17, 2025. All lessons fit under one of 6 broad categories: Begin, Instill, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under LEARN: Biblical Studies.Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.Podcast Notes (resources used or referenced):Walter Brueggeman, Genesis (Interpretation Commentary Series)I'd love to connect with you!Watch sermons and find transcripts at nathanguy.com.Follow along each Sunday through YouTube livestream and find a study guide on the sermon notes page.Follow me @nathanpguy (facebook/instagram/twitter)Subscribe to my email newsletter on substack.

Pr. Will Weedon, Host of The Word of the Lord Endures Forever The Word of the Lord Endures Forever Celebrating the Saints Thank, Praise, Serve and Obey See My Savior’s Hands We Praise You O GodThe post A Primer on the Church Year – Pr. Will Weedon, 12/10/25 (3443) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

Welcome back to The Plant Healer's Path — Episode 21. In this reflective episode, Jesse Wolf Hardin explores the idea that among all the plants we cherish, there may be one green ally whose presence, timing, symbolism, or healing effect plays a uniquely meaningful role in our lives. Wolf shares how a personal plant may appear during transition, heartbreak, celebration, or illness — offering medicine, emotional clarity, inspiration, or companionship. A plant ally might be one we've known for years but only now truly hear, or an unexpected species that arrives precisely when needed. We're invited to slow down, notice the plants around us, feel their resonance, and recognize the qualities, stories, and teachings they bring. Once we identify our plant, we can turn to it for grounding, guidance, and everyday support. A beautiful meditation on intuition, plant relationship, and the lifelong path of learning from nature. This audio was extracted from the beautiful video version available on the HerbRally YouTube channel. This episode is brought to you by The Good Medicine Confluence October 12–15, 2026 Ghost Ranch, New Mexico Join herbalists, healers, wildcrafters, visionaries, misfits, and medicine makers for four unforgettable days of learning, celebration, connection, ritual, and more than 100 classes from over 40 teachers. You're warmly invited to gather, study, celebrate, and dance under the stars in the Land of Enchantment.

As we move toward the end of the year, many of us are in reflection and vision mode—looking back at what 2025 has been and thinking ahead to what we want 2026 to look and feel like in our businesses and lives. In this episode, I'm talking about one of the most important (and often misunderstood) pieces of that conversation: content creation.I break down what “content” really is for a transformational, service-based business—not just posts on social media, not just a reel here and there—and why, going into 2026, you're going to need content that is deeper, more intentional, and more aligned with your genius than ever before. We look at content as the foundation of your marketing, business strategy, and client attraction, and get honest about the kind of content you actually need if you want to grow a sustainable, prosperous coaching business.I also talk about the difference between paying for leads with ads and building your business through organic visibility, and why—even if you love the idea of “using other people's audiences”—you still need your own thought leadership, frameworks, and offers to stand on.You'll hear me connect this to my Yellow Brick Road client attraction system (ATTRACT–SERVE–CONVERT) and to my Genius Edge framework, because at the end of the day, everything from your offers to your workshops, talks, podcast, and live events is content. If you want 2026 to be different from 2025 in terms of revenue, reach, and impact, you're going to have to create different content to get you there.In this episode, we explore:The difference between paid lead generation (ads) and organic visibility—and what that actually looks like in a coaching / service-based businessWhy reels and social media posts alone are not a content or client attraction strategy, especially if you sell higher-ticket, high-touch servicesHow to think about offers as content, and why your offer needs to be a sexy, transformational journey (not just a list of sessions or modules)The role of high-value, longer-form content—talks, workshops, masterclasses, podcasts, live events—in building authority, trust, and real relationships with your ideal clientsHow your content strategy supports my Yellow Brick Road framework (ATTRACT–SERVE–CONVERT) at every step of your client pathway, from first touch to “yes”A simple reverse-engineering process to look at what you want in 2026 (income, visibility, lifestyle, impact) and identify the content you'll need to create to make it possibleWhy 2026 will require you to “up-level” both your content game and your delivery skills—and how this connects to Your Genius Edge and my upcoming Serve & Deliver programThis episode is here to help you see your business through the lens of content: your offers, your message, your visibility, your thought leadership, your live experiences, and the way you invite people into your world. If you're dreaming bigger for 2026, this conversation will help you get honest about what you'll need to create—and how to start mapping that out now.Get Full Show Notes, Event Sign Ups and More Information Here:http://www.staceybrassrussell.com/podcast

When it comes to addressing health disparities, it's critically important that healthcare providers and researchers take a proactive approach to building trust with the communities we aim to serve. As founding director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at UC Davis, Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola has decades of experience with this approach. “It is possible to overcome the barriers of access to care if we can change our paradigm,” he says. “ In this episode of the Health Disparities podcast, Dr. Aguilar speaks with Movement Is Life's Dr. Zachary Lum about his work, which focuses on health disparities, mental health in underserved populations, community-engaged research and Latino health.  Never miss an episode – subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts

Embark on a transformational journey with the "Faith with Friends" podcast, as Lisa Lorenzo continues the December tradition, diving deep into the Book of Luke, chapter by chapter. In this episode, dated December 9th, the episode turns a spotlight on Luke 9—a pivotal chapter where Jesus shifts his ministry and begins preparing his disciples for service. As listeners are encouraged to read the chapter themselves, the episode unravels the key themes of spiritual dependence, surrender, and the cost of true discipleship.Delving deeply into Luke 9, we explore how Jesus imparts power and authority to his disciples, teaching them to rely on faith over earthly provisions. The narrative follows the disciples as they continue Jesus' work, experiencing miraculous success and encountering challenges that test their understanding. The teachings of Jesus unfold through notable events including the miracle of feeding thousands with scarce resources and the profound lesson of self-denial and daily surrender. Listeners are urged to reflect on where dependency shifts to control, inviting deeper surrender in their spiritual journeys.Key Takeaways:Jesus' Empowerment of Disciples: Jesus grants his closest followers power and authority, emphasizing dependence on God over material security.Miracle of the Loaves and Fish: Demonstrates how Jesus multiplies our humble offerings, teaching us about divine provision and faith.Identity and Suffering of the Messiah: The episode explores the necessity of the cross and suffering in Jesus' messianic role.True Discipleship: Following Jesus demands daily self-denial and prioritization of spiritual callings over worldly comforts.Lessons in Humility and Acceptance: Highlights humility in leadership and the importance of embracing all who work in Jesus' name.Notable Quotes:"Jesus is saying, you are not the miracle workers. I am. So let me provide through your obedience.""If anyone wants to come after me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me.""Where do I want him to work for me when he's trying to work through me?""Following me will not always feel secure. You won't always know what's next. Comfort cannot be your foundation.""When the farmer plows and looks back, the lines become crooked."Resources:Follow on Instagram: Faith with FriendsJoin us in this episode as we journey through trans

We've all heard of the five love languages, but have you heard about the five languages of appreciation at work?  The number three way people feel appreciated at work is through Acts of Service.  One of the greatest ways we can show our appreciation for others is by helping others complete a project.  It means so much to them when we help somebody at the end of our shift or at the end of our day to finish what they're doing.  And sometimes, it's just cleaning the toilet, vacuuming, or helping unload a car full of supplies.  Any way you look at it, helping others out of the goodness of your heart with a little act of service can make a real difference in the life of someone you work with.  For more information, check out appreciation at work dot com. 

Faith is a verb, an action word. What good is it to have faith but always play it safe? Step across the line. Serve your fellow man. 

18-year-old Will Burrell of Long Island, New York, is quite the teenager who gives back. He opened a business that gives back to the military. AND A Pennsylvania volunteer firefighter is putting on her gear again, two years after an incident that took the life of her boyfriend and left her in critical condition. To see videos and photos referenced in this episode, visit GodUpdates! https://www.godtube.com/blog/teenager-gives-back-with-free-meals.html https://www.godtube.com/blog/real-life-story-of-courage-after-loss.html Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What can I learn from the story of Joseph? That God gives hope, wisdom, forgiveness, and family.The sermon today is titled "God Gives Forgiveness." This sermon is the third installment in the series "Joseph's Journey." The Scripture reading is from Genesis 42:6-44:34. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on August 3, 2025. All lessons fit under one of 6 broad categories: Begin, Instill, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under LEARN: Biblical Studies.Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.Podcast Notes (resources used or referenced):Walter Brueggeman, Genesis (Interpretation Commentary Series)I'd love to connect with you!Watch sermons and find transcripts at nathanguy.com.Follow along each Sunday through YouTube livestream and find a study guide on the sermon notes page.Follow me @nathanpguy (facebook/instagram/twitter)Subscribe to my email newsletter on substack.

When someone is hurting, you can offer hope and encouragement through prayer, support, and sharing God's resources. -------- Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.     Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org   Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

Deacon Victor Valenzuela is assigned to St. Mary Church in Fullerton.  He is married, with two adult children.  He is a licensed social worker who is retired from 31 years of employment at Kaiser Permanente.  He is a former seminarian who has worked in a variety of ministries.  His wife is Diane.  Today, Deacon Victor talks with Deacon Jim Merle. Support the show

Your words are either inviting blessing into your life… or quietly agreeing with fear, lack, and limitation. In this first part of Words That Bring Blessings, Jay Moore, The Healthy Accountant, breaks down the first 5 blessing words that can radically shift how you think, speak, and live.This is Part 1 of 2 – we're laying the foundation with:Bless – How to bless your day, your work, your home, and your future on purposeThankful – Why gratitude is a spiritual strategy, not just a feelingPeace – How to speak peace into your mind, your home, and your financesLove – Using love to correct, confront, and communicate without crushing peopleFaith – Replacing fear-filled words with faith-filled declarations rooted in God's promisesIf you've ever caught yourself saying things like:“It's always something.”“Nothing ever works out for me.”“I'm so tired of this…”…this episode will help you retrain your mouth to agree with what God says about you.Start your day by saying: “I bless this day in Jesus' Name.”Choose one of the 5 words each day (Bless, Thankful, Peace, Love, Faith) and practice speaking it on purpose.End your day by thanking God out loud for at least 3 things.Watch to the end and speak along with the declarations.Then get ready for Part 2, where we'll cover the remaining five words: Hope, Forgive, Serve, Yes, and Praise.

God (Tao) says, 'be what I made you to be!' God (Tao) is found in relationships. Does God want us to know Him (or ourselves) most intimately? Dependent Co-arising? 'Simultaneously, I and all beings attain the Way' (Awaken to Reality) ~Buddha 'Essentially, outside of me, nothing exists' Verse 18 What does it mean to let go? What do we let go of? To be human is to be attached? Closes with Verse 81, and then Joel reads two poems by Ikkyu. Biographies of Panel: Dr. Bob Insull is an New York State Licensed Psychologist with more than 60 years experience teaching, training, and treating in the arena of human behavior. In his clinical practice, he has worked across the developmental stages (children to golden-agers), across the diagnostic spectrum (chemical dependency, severe mental illness, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, and PTSD), and treatment settings (clinics, inpatient psychiatric centers, and private practice). During the closing years of his practice, he became interested in the area of psychological trauma and worked with survivors in individual and group settings. He has been retired from active practice for about 15 years and spends his time engaged in self-discovery on the Sufi Path and social-change activities with his church. ------ Brian Mistler enjoys communing with fellow inquirers and reflecting together on revealed perennial wisdom. Hari Om Tat Sat. Peace, peace, peace. ------- Richard Grego is Professor of philosophy and cultural history at FSCJ. His research interests focus on cross-cultural themes in religion and science - including philosophy of mind, comparative world religions/world civilizations, and the metaphysical - theological implications of theoretical physics and cosmology. His publications have included studies in the history - philosophy of science and conceptions of nature in the history of western philosophy, as well as cross-cultural perspectives on mind/ consciousness in western philosophy - psychology and the neo-Vedanta Hindu tradition. Prior to his academic career, he was a criminal investigator - polygraph examiner for the Florida Office of the Public Defender and in the private sector Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute and International Academy of Polygraph Science in Florida, and national Academic Director of the Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council. ------- Joel David Lesses is President and Executive Director of Education Training Center, Inc. and his work experience is in education, psychology, and counseling for people marginalized by trauma, addiction, and psychological distress. He is deeply vested in addressing the effects of mental health distress and its marginalization including, incarceration, homelessness, and institutionalization. Joel is dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker and existential opportunity. He holds dual Master of Science degrees from University at Buffalo in Rehabilitation Counseling and Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Epidemiology. ------- Henry Cretella, M.D. studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism for several years along with training in martial arts.  He then immersed himself in the more universal Sufism of Inayat Khan, an Indian mystic, for close to twenty years. He functioned as a senior teacher in the Inayati Order and the Sufi Healing Order before pursuing  his independent practice and study of mysticism. He now integrates what he has learned and experienced over these many years. He graduated from Vanderbilt Medical School and completed his psychiatric training at Strong Memorial Hospital of the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY.  His professional career spanned over 40 years as a general and child and adolescent psychiatrist and included teaching, administration, clinical practice and consultation in the greater Rochester and western NY areas.  This, along with his spiritual and especially mystical interests lead him to certification as a mind body practitioner through the Center for Mind Body Medicine and Dr. James Gordon.  He retired several years ago from active psychiatric practice, but continues to incorporate what he has learned into his spiritual practices and offerings.d

Kudzu. Spotted Lanternfly. Blue catfish. These are just a few of the invasive species that spread fast and outcompete Virginia's native plants and animals. Ecology students at Virginia Tech recently hosted a potluck featuring dishes with invasive ingredients. Roxy Todd stopped by, and she reports the food was …actually quite delicious.

hunterpottery.com buy your mugs here!  Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 1 Timothy 5-6; Titus Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! On this episode for December 9th, join Hunter as he guides us through a thoughtful reading of First Timothy chapters 5 and 6, followed by the book of Titus. As your brother and Bible reading coach, Hunter invites you to quiet your heart, reflect on Scripture, and focus on genuine Christian living. Together, you'll explore what it looks like to serve others, leading a life of productivity and meaning rooted in serving, rather than self-interest. Today's episode also offers comforting prayers for Advent, encouragement to trust in God's goodness, and practical reminders—like making space for soul care and simple pleasures (yes, even a good bowl of chicken soup!). Listen in for reflection, nourishment for your soul, and a powerful reminder that you are deeply loved. TODAY'S DEVOTION: Focus on others. Paul says here in verse 14, "Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others. Then they will not be unproductive." Ironically, the opposite is true. If you want to have an unproductive life, an unfruitful life, then focus only on yourself. Zig Ziglar put it this way: "You can get everything in life you want if you'll just help enough other people to get what they want." And in John 12:24, Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels, a plentiful harvest of new lives." A productive and fulfilling life comes when we take the focus off ourselves and begin to serve others. This doesn't mean that your life isn't worth anything, that abasement and self-degradation are the goal. No—your life is absolutely worthy of respect and love and care. Christ has demonstrated for us just how valuable your life is, and he has shown us the context of our lives. We are creatures made in relationship to others, and your own unique gifting and glory will find its deepest and truest expression as we pursue our lives in service to others. When we die to making this life about us, then we will have all that we want—more than we could have imagined in this life and in the life to come. And we can actually begin to do that now. Because our anxieties about our lives have been dealt with in Christ. He has restored our self-respect. He has made clear what our value is, so we don't have to try to compensate for something we think is missing, and fight to make this life all about us. The Gospel of Mark says, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." So let us learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others, and we will not be unproductive. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

In this episode of The Real Build, I sit down with Dr. Noah St. John, one of the world's top experts on mindset and success psychology.For more than two decades, Noah has helped entrepreneurs, CEOs, and business leaders create over three billion dollars in new revenue by mastering their mindset, eliminating self-sabotage, and turning habits into results.We talk about the real foundation of success: belief, discipline, and purpose. Noah explains how builders, entrepreneurs, and business leaders can break through mental barriers and reach their next level of growth. We also discuss Afformations versus affirmations and why asking better questions leads to better outcomes.Noah shares how to clear the head trash that holds people back, and why time is irrelevant. What we should master instead is priorities and systems.If you have ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or capable of more, this conversation will help you rebuild your mindset from the ground up.Guest Info:Noah St. JohnWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://noahstjohn.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noahstjohn/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahstjohn/Host Info:Email: Bill@rkreiman.comCONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:▶︎ YOUTUBE | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxAdSxHN0dIXZPhA-6p1HYA ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▶︎ INSTAGRAM | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/imbillreiman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▶︎FACEBOOK| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/billy.reiman ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▶︎ LINKEDIN | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-reim...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▶︎ TWITTER | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ImBillReiman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▶︎ WEBSITE | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.rkreiman.com⁠

Greg and Crissy Lou Francis close the Entrepreneurial Kids series with a powerful message about how business and faith can come together to change lives.Crissy Lou shares the story behind her growing program Super Kids — how it started as a small online class and became a global community teaching children about faith, leadership, and encouragement.Greg and Crissy Lou talk about the real lessons behind entrepreneurship: serving others, glorifying God, and creating value that changes lives.Is your child ready to succeed and make friends who share their values? Crissy is inviting your family and friends to join Redwood SuperKids, an amazing program for kids! Text “Superkids” to 33777 to learn more and sing up now! Follow Redwood Superkids on Instagram @redwood_superkids for updates!You'll Learn:How to turn passion into purpose-driven impactThe lessons of faith, stewardship, and service behind successHow to teach kids to lead with humility and heartWhy God blesses business that blesses othersThe true meaning of “earning through serving”

What can I learn from the story of Joseph? That God gives hope, wisdom, forgiveness, and family.The sermon today is titled "God Gives Wisdom." This sermon is the second installment in the series "Joseph's Journey." The Scripture reading is from Genesis 41:1-57. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on July 27, 2025. All lessons fit under one of 6 broad categories: Begin, Instill, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under LEARN: Biblical Studies.Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.Podcast Notes (resources used or referenced):Walter Brueggeman, Genesis (Interpretation Commentary Series)I'd love to connect with you!Watch sermons and find transcripts at nathanguy.com.Follow along each Sunday through YouTube livestream and find a study guide on the sermon notes page.Follow me @nathanpguy (facebook/instagram/twitter)Subscribe to my email newsletter on substack.

We serve a Mighty God! His goodness can't be compared to anyone we know because there is none like Him! He is faithful! His grace is and favor is unmerited and His blessings are unlimited! Even when we feel all alone, He is with us! And when we experience life's billowing waves, He is there to carry us! No matter what we face, God promised that He would be with us even until the end of time!

Ximena está de regreso en el podcast (¡después de años!) para hablar de su gran pasión: el interiorismo. En esta conversación, grabada desde su propia casa, platicamos sobre la diferencia entre una "casa de revista" y un hogar donde realmente se vive y se disfruta.

Here are some of the themes in the readings for the 3rd Sunday of Advent. (Lectionary #7) December 8, 2025 - Cathedral Rectory - Superior, WI Fr. Andrew Ricci - www.studyprayserve.com  

John prays for Gaius' physical health to match his spiritual vitality—reminding us that our physical well-being impacts our spiritual effectiveness. While praying for healing is valid, we must also prioritize spiritual fitness and discipline for the sake of gospel usefulness.

Ready to set your fee? You choose the dream, we'll do the math.

Many people make more money and somehow feel more afraid. Afraid to decide. Afraid to lose. Afraid to look foolish. Afraid to miss out. https://www.youtube.com/live/00ErZ7MiuEM This isn't a fringe problem. It's everywhere.And it's solvable. Bruce and I recorded this episode to hand you a simple tool you can use to reframe fear and build the kind of financial life that runs on clarity, certainty, and stewardship. Overcoming financial fear starts hereWhat Financial Fear Really IsMake Financial Fear Work For YouScarcity vs Abundance With MoneyWhy Typical Financial Planning Fuels AnxietyTraditional Planning Builds CertaintyPut Money Back In Its PlaceHow Media and Culture Feed FearThe Practical System To Overcome Financial FearTypical Planning vs Traditional PlanningTypical PlanningTraditional PlanningOvercoming Financial Fear: From scarcity to abundance – your next stepBuild certainty, not anxiety – listen in and take your next stepBook A Strategy CallFAQ – Overcoming Financial FearWhat causes financial fear?How do I overcome financial fear fast?What is the abundance mindset with money?Is money good or evil?Why does typical retirement planning increase anxiety?How do cash flowing assets reduce financial fear?How does whole life insurance help with financial fear?What is traditional financial planning? Overcoming financial fear starts here If you've ever hesitated before a money decision, second guessed yourself after signing the paperwork, or stayed stuck because the “what ifs” grew louder than your purpose, you've met financial fear. This article will help you: Understand what financial fear really is, and why even high net worth families feel it. Swap a scarcity mindset for an abundance mindset without pretending fear disappears. See why typical planning fuels anxiety and how traditional planning builds certainty. Put money back in its place as a neutral tool and elevate stewardship. Take practical steps today to move from reaction to intentional design. If fear has been in the driver's seat, it's time to move it to the passenger side and make it serve your mission. What Financial Fear Really Is Let's start at the root. Fear is not your enemy.  It's a God-given alarm for imminent danger. As Bruce says, fear can save your life when a car barrels toward you. You don't want to pause and philosophize. You jump. The problem is when that same survival response starts running your money decisions. You either freeze and hoard, or you sprint from shiny object to shiny object because you're afraid to miss out. Different behaviors. Same scarcity. I've watched fear show up in two common ways: Fear of running outThe miser mindset. White knuckles. No generosity. No strategic investment. Just “hold on or else.” Fear of missing outThe constant upgrader. Bigger house, better boat, newer thing. Always chasing, never satisfied. Both are scarcity. Neither is abundance. Abundance isn't reckless. It's not denial. It's a settled conviction that value creation is limitless, and that you can make wise, long range decisions because you are a producer, not just a consumer. Make Financial Fear Work For You The most successful people don't lack fear.They refuse to let fear set the agenda. They put emotions under the leadership of a renewed mind. They use fear as a prompt to prepare, to do the work, to practice courage, and to move anyway. Here's a quick loop Bruce and I use: Name the fear. Say it out loud. Interrogate it. What's the real risk, the real timeline, the real magnitude? Reframe it. What productive action can this fear fuel today? Act. Small, specific steps beat ruminating every time. Review. Talk to yourself like you talk to a friend. Record wins. Build evidence. Courage is a muscle.Train it. Scarcity vs Abundance With Money I like to picture a continuum with scarcity at the bottom and abundance at the top. On both ends of the bell curve, scarcity looks different but feels the same. On one end, scarcity hoards and hides. On the other, scarcity spends to soothe and signal. Abundance sits at the top and does something else entirely. It designs a system where money can be saved, used, enjoyed, replenished, and directed toward a bigger mission. It recognizes that money follows value, and value flows from serving people well. Abundance knows this truth: Money is neutral.It's a magnifier of the soul. Put money in the hands of a wise steward and it multiplies blessing. Put money in the hands of a fool and it multiplies damage. Money did not change the heart. It revealed it. This is why character formation, family culture, and clear guidance are not side notes in finance. They are the engine. Why Typical Financial Planning Fuels Anxiety Typical planning was built to end your productivity.Work until X. Stop. Spend down the pile. Hope you don't outlive it. Because the goal is “stop,” the math has to guess a thousand variables. Guess your lifespan. Guess returns. Guess inflation. Guess taxes. Run a Monte Carlo and call it “certainty.” It's not certainty. It's a string of guesses. When your entire strategy rests on projections you can't control, you feed fear. You start managing to the simulation instead of managing to your mission. You also fragment your financial life into compartments that don't talk to each other. Save a little here, speculate a little there, and pray it nets out. No wonder so many feel anxious. Traditional Planning Builds Certainty Traditional planning doesn't ask, “When can I stop being productive?”It asks, “How do I keep producing, stewarding, and compounding value for generations?” That one shift changes everything. Traditional planning prioritizes: Cash flowing assets over pure appreciationThink businesses and investments that spin off usable cash today and tomorrow. Liquidity and control so you can seize opportunitiesDry powder matters. Optionality reduces fear. Properly designed whole life insurance as a foundational assetGuaranteed cash value, contractual certainty, and a death benefit that refills the family bucket. This is family banking and a reliable backstop that turns risk setbacks into recoverable chapters. Integrated estate design that includes guidanceA will and trust are the shell. A string family culture, Memorandum of Trust, clear roles, and love letters are the substance. Don't just transfer assets. Transfer wisdom and intent. A producer mindsetWe don't retire from purpose. We refine it. We build the family enterprise and train the next generation to steward it. Traditional planning removes guesswork where you can and embraces guarantees where they exist. That is how you replace fear with confidence. Put Money Back In Its Place Many people carry a hidden belief that money is bad. Movies preach it. Social feeds imply it. And if you've absorbed “money is evil,” you will sabotage your own success and feel guilty about every win. I love the picture Bruce learned on the football field. Football didn't build character. It revealed it. Money is the same. It shows what is already true in your heart and in your habits. When money is your god, it runs your life and ruins your relationships. When God is first and people are second and you include yourself in the command to love your neighbor as yourself, money becomes a powerful means to bless, build, and multiply good. Order brings peace. Peace calms fear. How Media and Culture Feed Fear Fear sells. Whether it's the markets, politics, or the latest doom headline, your attention is the product. If you feed fear 24 hours a day, fear will set your financial thermostat. We do something very simple in our family. We curate inputs. We stay informed without bathing in anxiety. Perspective is your most valuable asset. Guard it. The Practical System To Overcome Financial Fear Let's translate this into steps you can take this week. Audit your mindset.Write down three places fear is currently driving your decisions. Name whether it's fear of running out or fear of missing out. Clarify your long-range vision.Lift your eyes. Where do you want your family to be in 25, 50, 200 years? What values do you want embedded in your lineage? Your vision pulls you forward better than fear pushes you around. Strengthen liquidity and cash flow.Increase savings. Build or acquire cash flowing assets. Stop relying solely on appreciation and projections. Add guarantees where they belong.Evaluate properly structured whole life insurance as part of your base. Use it to store capital, access liquidity, and provide a guaranteed death benefit that refills the bucket and de-risks the plan. Integrate your estate design with guidance.Build or update your will and trust. Write your Memorandum of Trust. Clarify roles. Draft love letters to your heirs. Do not leave interpretation to chance. Build producer habits.Study. Create. Serve. Keep solving real problems. Producers attract opportunities. Opportunities expand options. Options reduce fear. Practice the self-talk you'd give a friend.Review wins. Document what worked. Speak to yourself with the same encouragement you offer others. This widens your capacity to choose faith over fear. Typical Planning vs Traditional Planning Use this quick contrast to evaluate your current path. Typical Planning End date focus Spend down a pile Reliant on projections Fragmented accounts Rate of return obsession High anxiety, low control Traditional Planning Ongoing production Cash flow focus Guarantees where possible Integrated system Value creation obsession High certainty, higher control Choose your operating system. Choose your outcomes. Overcoming Financial Fear: From scarcity to abundance – your next step