Podcasts about yet god

Episode Summary: Caring for others is one of the most beautiful expressions of Christlike love, yet it can also be one of the most exhausting. Whether someone is caring for an aging parent, a chronically ill spouse, a child with special needs, or a friend struggling through a difficult diagnosis, caregivers often experience emotional fatigue, compassion overload, and spiritual depletion. In honor of National Caregiver’s Day, today on Your Hope-Filled Perspective we are shining a bright and honoring spotlight on caregivers who quietly pour out strength and tenderness day after day. If you are a caregiver who feels seen and unseen all at once, this conversation is for you. Quotables from the episode: In this episode we want to acknowledge the deep emotional and spiritual cost that comes with caregiving, whether it’s caring for children, spouses, parents or someone else. Many caregivers love fiercely yet carry silent burdens. They often neglect their own rest while tending to the needs of others. They juggle responsibilities, appointments, medications, medical decisions, financial pressures, and emotional strain until their own souls feel frayed. If that describes you, know that God sees every moment of sacrifice. He understands every tear cried in private. He knows how heavy this calling can feel. Whether you are in a short-term caregiving season or you have been carrying this responsibility for years, we want to help you find strength, rest, and spiritual renewal. Yet God created rest not as a luxury but as a divine necessity. He invites caregivers to receive the strength they need directly from His presence. Caregivers often do not realize how overwhelmed they are until they are already close to burnout. They believe they should be able to keep going. They think rest is selfish. They feel guilty for asking for help. But caregiving is not meant to be a one-person mission. Caregiver burnout does not happen overnight. It happens slowly and quietly, often while someone is trying to be strong for everyone else. God never intended caregiving to be an isolating burden. Galatians teaches us to carry one another’s burdens. That includes the weight of caregiving. Asking for help is not a failure. It is a biblical principle If you have begun feeling resentful or emotionally disconnected, that is a powerful signal that your soul is in need of restoration. You cannot pour out what has not been filled. I want caregivers to hear this truth. You are not responsible for outcomes. You are responsible to love well and to walk faithfully, but God holds the results. Scripture References: Isaiah 40:29 “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 18:28 “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” Jeremiah 31:25 “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” Recommended Resources: Free Caregiver Burnout Warning Sign Checklist Reframing Rejection: How Looking Through a Different Lens Changes Everything By Jessica Van Roekel Sacred Scars: Resting in God’s Promise That Your Past Is Not Wasted by Dr. Michelle Bengtson The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out To God When Pain Overwhelms by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises from God to Start Your Day Off Right by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Breaking Anxiety’s Grip Free Study Guide Free PDF Resource: How to Fight Fearful/Anxious Thoughts and Win Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Hope Prevails Bible Study by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Free Webinar: Help for When You’re Feeling Blue Social Media Links for Host and Guest: Connect with Rev. Jessica Van Roekel: Website / Instagram / Facebook Connect with Dr. Bengtson: Order Book Sacred Scars / Order Book The Hem of His Garment / Order Book Today is Going to be a Good Day / Order Book Breaking Anxiety’s Grip / Order Book Hope Prevails / Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter (@DrMBengtson) / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / YouTube / Podcast on Apple Co-Host: Jessica Van Roekel is a worship leader, speaker, and writer who believes that through Jesus, personal histories don’t need to define the present or determine the future. She inspires, encourages, and equips others to look at life through the lenses of hope, trust, and God’s transforming grace. Jessica lives in rural Iowa surrounded by wide open spaces which remind her of God’s expansive love. She loves fun earrings, good coffee, and connecting with others. Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson Audio Technical Support: Ashton Bengtson Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Ever wonder why so many men and women are saying “no” to kids these days? In this raw, no-holds-barred episode of the M3 Podcast, I give you a guy's unfiltered take on the real reasons behind plummeting birth rates.We've been sold massive lies: the world is “overpopulated,” the Earth is doomed if we have more children, and bringing kids into this “terrible” place is selfish or irresponsible. But what if those narratives are straight-up deception designed to kill the next generation?I break it down from a man's perspective: how modern dating apps and social media have turned relationships into attention-seeking chaos with zero accountability, how women face constant temptation and validation overload, and how both genders have shifted toward selfishness over legacy and family. Yet God's ancient command—“Be fruitful and multiply”—still stands today, undefeated by cultural fear-mongering.If you're tired of the anti-family propaganda, questioning the childfree trend, or just want a bold, faith-fueled perspective on why kids are still a blessing (and how we fight back), hit play. This one's for anyone ready to reject the lies and reclaim the future.

In week six of Upside Down Glory, Pastor Dave Hentschel opens Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 12 to explore what it means to be “The Body That Suffers Together.” Scripture tells us that all creation groans under the weight of the fall, and believers groan as well—not in despair, but in hope. This message reminds us that suffering is not a sign of weak faith, but a shared reality in a broken world, and that the Spirit of God intercedes for us even when we have no words left to pray. Yet God never intended His people to suffer alone. Through the image of the church as a body, Pastor Dave calls us to move beyond isolation and independence into interdependence, where every member is needed and every weakness matters. The church is not a crowd that watches suffering, but a body that absorbs it, bearing one another's burdens with Romans 8 hope and 1 Corinthians 12 hands.In a groaning world, God forms a people who wait with hope, care with compassion, and refuse to let anyone suffer alone.

In this episode, We All Have a Nineveh: When God Calls Us Beyond Comfort, we revisit the familiar story of Jonah and uncover a leadership lesson that speaks directly to our daily decisions. Most leaders assume that when God calls, the direction will make sense. We expect obedience to align with our strengths, our plans, and our sense of fairness. But Jonah's story reminds us that God's assignments often stretch beyond our comfort zones. Nineveh wasn't simply inconvenient for Jonah—it was offensive to him. He didn't run because he misunderstood God's command. He ran because he understood God's mercy. That tension still lives in the hearts of leaders today. We may not board ships in the opposite direction, but we delay hard conversations, avoid uncomfortable assignments, or quietly resist the direction God is leading us. Beneath the reasoning often lies a deeper issue: obedience is asking more than we want to give. This episode explores how our personal "Nineveh" reveals what's really happening in our hearts. It may expose fear, pride, resentment, or a narrow view of grace. Yet God doesn't reveal these things to condemn us—He reveals them to form us. You'll also discover why avoiding God's call never cancels it, how delayed obedience often creates unnecessary storms, and why the assignments we resist most are often the ones God uses to shape our leadership character. Jonah's story shows us that Nineveh was not just his mission—it was his mirror. Ultimately, this episode invites leaders to reflect on a simple but searching question: What is your Nineveh? Where might God be calling you beyond comfort into obedience, mercy, and growth? Because the place we resist most is often the place where God is waiting to meet us.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters…You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Isaiah 55:1, 12). On Friday, we considered the opening verses of Isaiah 55. Today, we focus on verse 12. This is not merely a poetic flourish. It is the picture of what happens when God restores his people. Those who once walked in exile now walk in freedom. The journey with God is not a forced march but a joyful procession. Joy becomes the atmosphere; peace becomes the guide. Notice that creation itself joins the celebration. Mountains sing. Trees clap. The world is portrayed as a grand sanctuary echoing with praise because God is making all things right. When the Lord redeems his people, the effects ripple outward. Salvation is never small or private. It touches hearts, communities, and ultimately the whole creation which already longs for renewal. It's important to pay attention to what lies between the invitation that opens the chapter and the sending that draws it to a close. Three things are considered. First, God renews his covenant with his people. In the covenant, he both calls them to himself and sends them out as his witnesses. Second, God calls his people to leave behind their wicked ways; to repent of their unrighteous thoughts. This call is companioned with the promise of forgiveness. His mercy will cover our sin. We may feel burdened by regret, worry, or weariness. Yet God promises a future shaped not by fear but by joy, not by chaos but by peace. He leads his people forward, not alone but surrounded by the testimony of his faithfulness. Third, God reminds us of his powerful Word. That Word we know as both his creating and redeeming Word. It is beyond our comprehension in power, potential and mercy. Here is an invitation not to understand but to trust that Word. A Word that not only redeems us but transforms all of creation. Hopefully, you had opportunity to join God's people in worship this past weekend. And hopefully, you caught glimpses of these things. In worship, God's covenant with us is renewed, we hear his call to holiness, and we enter a new week with hopefulness and courage. God goes before us with his redeeming and transforming Word. Walk with this vision before you: a path lined with singing hills and applauding trees. Even when the road feels ordinary or uncertain, God is still leading. His redemption turns journeys of struggle into pilgrimages of praise. And as we follow him, our lives begin to echo the song of creation itself, proclaiming that the Lord is faithful and his restoration is sure. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: Wherever God takes you today (this week), may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.

As part of the series Living Confidently in Times of Great Change, Isaiah 54:1–3 calls the people of God to prepare for expansion:“Sing, barren woman… burst into song… Enlarge the place of your tent… do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left…”These words were spoken to a people who saw themselves as captives and victims. Jerusalem had been destroyed, the temple ruined, and the nation scattered. Yet God declared that restoration and multiplication were coming. They were not to prepare for survival—but for growth.History shows what can happen when this word is taken seriously. In 1792, a young shoemaker, William Carey, preached from this very passage and ended with the now-famous challenge: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” From that moment the modern missionary movement was launched. What began small grew to impact nations. God still calls His people to move from limitation into expansion.1. It's Time To SingIsaiah 54:1 “Sing, barren woman… burst into song…”The command to sing was given to the barren, the fruitless, the disappointed and the hurting. Before they saw change, before fruit appeared, they were told to rejoice.Captivity had stolen their song. God was restoring it.Singing represents a mindset shift—from despair to faith, from victim to victor. Revival always carries a sound of praise because it reflects confidence that the Redeemer lives.Isaiah 54 continues with promises of: Growth, Dignity, Restoration, Everlasting love, Prosperity, Family blessing, ProtectionThe season of barrenness does not define the future. The first step into new growth is choosing praise before the breakthrough appears.2. It's Time To Stretch Isaiah 54:2–3“Enlarge the place of your tent… do not hold back… For you will spread out to the right and to the left.”The exiles had developed a survival mentality. When people face hardship, the instinct is often to withdraw, conserve, and protect what remains. But God commands the opposite: Do not hold back.The imagery is of a Bedouin tent being expanded—new skins added, cords lengthened, territory extended. Growth requires stretching beyond comfort.This is the mission of the Church:Acts 1:8 – “You will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”Matthew 28:19 – “Go and make disciples of all nations.”Growth means moving outward—into communities, workplaces, campuses and neighbourhoods. It means sharing the gospel intentionally and believing for multiplication.Stretching requires faith. It requires stepping up to lead, to serve, to speak, to invite. Fear shrinks back; faith expands forward.3. It's Time To StrengthenIsaiah 54:2 “…strengthen your stakes.”Expansion without strengthening leads to collapse. As growth increases, foundations must deepen.• Strengthen Yourself In The WordPsalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp for my feet.”2 Timothy 3:16–17 – “All Scripture is God-breathed… so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped.”The Word equips, corrects, trains and guides. Growth demands daily discipline in Scripture. Strong tents require strong stakes.• Strengthen Yourself In The Holy SpiritJohn 3:34 – “God gives the Spirit without limit.”Acts 1:8 – “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…”Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1). Effective witness flows from spiritual empowerment. Stretching cannot happen in human strength. Dependence on the Holy Spirit must deepen daily.• Strengthen Yourself OrganisationallyGrowth also requires order. Time, habits, finances, priorities and family life must align with purpose. Capacity must increase to sustain expansion.Organisation creates room for multiplication.In ConclusionGod is preparing His people for new levels of growth. The word is clear:Sing – shift the mindset from barrenness to fruitfulness.Stretch – refuse to hold back; expand in faith.Strengthen – deepen foundations in the Word, the Spirit and disciplined living.Isaiah 54:4 declares:“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.”This is not a season of retreat, but of advance. Not survival, but multiplication. Not limitation, but expansion.Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.

Mike and Kenny review and spot faith presented in the Academy Award nominated and latest film by director Yorgos Lanthimos. Bugonia marks another colaboration between Lanthimos and two time Best Actress winner Emma Stone, whose second Oscar was for Lanthimos's film Poor Things. Stone stars as Michelle Fuller, a powerful CEO of a pharmaceutical company. Jesse Plemons, a 2021 Best Supporting Actor nominee co-stars as conspiracy theory obsessed beekeeper Teddy Gatz. Aiden Delbis also co-stars as Teddy's autistic cousin Don.  Likening her actions to Cology Collapse Disorder where healthy beehives suddenly collapse, Teddy believes Fuller is an Andromedan alien who is intent to destroy or force humanity into subserivence. Teddy convinces Don to assist him in kidnapping and holding Fuller hostage in an effort to be transported to the Andromedan spaceship.  Faith Spotted: As with bee hives, communities, whether faith or societal, can function, grow and live for an extended period and then quickly become dysfuntional collapse and die. Typically growth happens when the wellbeing of the collective is prioritized over the needs, fears, or desires of the individual. Fracturing happens when in response to the community facing challenge or change, and individuals or portions of the community begin to act in ways that offer them comfort and assurance based on memories of past glory and success.  Teddy resembles in the description of John the Baptist who comes in from the wilderness with a new message.  While John was preparing the way for the new message that was the Gospel of Christ, not every outsider with a new message is to be followed.  The patience of God not to do away with creation or humanity even though it is likely what is derserved. Although there is the flood account in Scripture, there have been other times when God has been tempted to do away with nations or communities, yet resisted the temptation. The continued rejection by humanity of God's grace, love and righteousness (desire) is a source of unimaginable pain to God. Because God's love is complete and perfect, the loss and pain God feels when we reject and retaliate are immeasureable. Yet God continues to love.  Dysfunctional communities such as cults etc. are based on and grow out of fear of real or perceived threats and challenges facing members. Such fear leads to a desire and need to seek to control or to follow those indviduals and groups who promise stability and control over that which is unknown or unstable, regardless of the cost. The promise of the Gospel is that life does not end in death, collapse and a tomb, but rather continues through the hope and assurance of ressurection to new life. 

When truth is costly, will you still speak it? In moments when silence feels safer and obedience feels risky, it can be tempting to keep faith private. Yet God often places His truth in our hands not to be hidden, but to be shared—no matter the circumstances or the cost.In this episode, Tracie and Abigail continue Season 11 When War Comes through the story of Hansie's conversion. While in hiding during World War II, she was cared for by "Domie" Bastiaan Ader, who risked his life, not only to protect her but also to share the saving power of the Gospel. Through the courage of Christians, she heard the life-changing truth of Christ—reminding us that when we stand firmly on God's Word and speak it without reservation, God can use our obedience to preserve a life in this world and for Heaven.If you know of someone who can be helped by listening to the Abundant Living Podcast, please share this episode with them. Please let us know what you think by rating and reviewing this podcast in your podcasting app! We love hearing from our listeners, whether through comments on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our Instagram⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or messaging us on our website, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠christianladiesfellowship.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You may also apply to be a part of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our private Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, but be sure to answer all the questions and agree to the group rules when you click to join.You can also email Tracie directly at tburns@immanueljax.org. Thank you for being part of this uplifting and encouraging community of ladies who want to live abundantly for the Lord!

What does an ancient prophetic blessing from a dying patriarch have to do with your life today?More than you think.In Genesis 49–50, Jacob gathers his twelve sons and speaks over them—not just as a father, but as a prophet. These blessings reveal the character of each tribe, the consequences of their choices, and the unstoppable plan of God moving toward Jesus Christ, our Shiloh.This message walks verse-by-verse through each tribe and uncovers powerful truths for believers today.Highlights from the Message• Reuben — The firstborn who lost his place through instability and sin• Simeon & Levi — Anger without restraint, yet Levi becomes a picture of grace and redemption• Judah — The tribe of kings, the Lion, and the coming Messiah• Zebulun — Positioned for influence• Issachar — Strong, but trapped by comfort• Dan — Gifted, yet dangerously drawn to idolatry• Gad, Asher, Naphtali — Warriors, blessings, and freedom• Joseph — The fruitful branch protected by God• Benjamin — Fierce, complex, and impactfulEvery tribe shows us something about human nature—and something even greater about the faithfulness of God.Key Takeaways1. Obedience to God does not guarantee an easy life. Joseph obeyed—and walked through betrayal, slavery, false accusation, and prison. Yet God used every hardship for His purpose.2. Your performance does not determine your purpose. God's calling is rooted in His sovereignty, not your perfection. Judah, Levi, Joseph—each shows us that God writes the story.3. Sin blinds us to our only hope. Joseph's brothers rejected the one sent to save them. Israel rejected Jesus, the true Shiloh. Sin always resists the Savior—until grace opens our eyes.

Peter denied Jesus three times, rebuked the Son of God, and walked away weeping bitterly. Yet God used him to start the New Testament Church and lead 3,000 people to salvation. If you've ever felt disqualified by your failures, shame, or mistakes, this powerful message will transform how you see yourself and your calling as a leader.In this episode, you'll discover:✅ Why Peter's biggest failures uniquely qualified him to lead the early church with compassion and understanding✅ The common lies Christian moms believe (I'm not doing enough, my kids won't turn out okay, I'm all alone) and the biblical truths that replace them✅ How to identify the enemy's attacks in your own thought life and respond with God's truth instead✅ Why accepting God's forgiveness—and forgiving yourself—is essential to stepping into your leadership calling✅ The surprising truth about rest, busyness, and why filling every moment doesn't make you enough for GodReady to replace lies with truth? Leaders aren't born perfect—they're made through failure, forgiveness, and faith. Discover your calling today.Resources Mentioned:Get your FREE Basic Pass to Life Skills Leadership Summit 2026 to give you confidence that your kids will be ready for adult life Living Fearless by Jamie Winship - Finding your identity and calling in God, identifying lies you believe, and replacing them with truthUnbound - Fighting Human Trafficking - Learn more about this important ministry and how to keep your students safeShow Notes:Hey everyone, Kerry Beck here with Life Skills Leadership Summit. Oh my goodness, it is finally here. It is Sunday night, five o'clock. We are going to have an awesome week.We get such great response from the Life Skills Leadership Summit. And I think one reason we have many homeschoolers here, but this is not just homeschooling, how to homeschool or homeschool curriculum. This has something that has some purpose and intention and that is to raise our kids to be ready for adult life, to raise our kids to walk in Jesus and lead and influence for Jesus.We have some people that homeschool, some people that don't. I would say most people do. But tonight, what I want to do is do a few things.Before I tell you this, I want to introduce my friend Meredith Curtis. She is our prayer coordinator. Let me tell you, we need a lot of prayer for this. I just got home from Dallas. My granddaughter, who's not even two months old, was dedicated. So I drove in and I just bounced right into this.I was praying on the way over here from Dallas. It's a three-hour drive just that y'all would be blessed. I really hope that God speaks through you. It may not be tonight, but I pray that he speaks to you sometime during the week, gives you encouragement, gives you motivation, helps you to finish strong, gives you wisdom in what you're doing, whether you're homeschooling or whether you're just raising your kids to follow God.What Is Leadership?Tonight is our Sunday kickoff. I am going to begin a series on Peter—Peter's leadership journey from failure to faith. And we're going to talk about the failures tonight. And we will expand it through the week.Let me tell you, sometimes I think Peter a leader. And we'll talk about that because you're like he denied Jesus. How could you be a leader? And yet God works so many things through him. So I'm super excited about that series.Before we get started, I would love for you to put something in the chat and tell me what is a leader. Let me just talk to you a little bit about a man named John Maxwell. He is a guru in leadership. And here's what he says: Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.Think about that. Leadership is influence. If you are being salt and light as Jesus commanded, then you have begun to obey God's call to leadership. It is influence.Too often we think my kid's not going to be president of the United States or CEO. But almost all of our kids will lead their families. They will be husbands and wives. They will have sons and daughters that they will need to lead. And so that is what leadership is.Another quote from John Maxwell is this: Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less. How do you gain influence from people? You invest in them. How do you invest in them? It starts with giving them time.Peter: From Bold Declaration to Immediate FailureWe are going to look at Peter today. Yes, we're going to look more at his failures, but then we're going to move forward and look at the way that he influenced people. Again, I said 3,000 people trusted Jesus as their savior when he gave his first sermon.When we look at Peter and we look at Mark 8, Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked, "Who do people say that I am?" Well, they replied, "Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets."Then he asked them, "Who do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah. You are the son of God." He gives this great answer. He tells them truth. Peter grasps and he boldly declares exactly who Jesus is. Jesus commends them for that.But then immediately after that, Jesus starts talking. Jesus began to tell them that the son of man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law, that he would be killed. But three days later he would rise from the dead.As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. He just said he's the son of God. And then he's like, "Oh, let me reprimand you. Let me tell God what's going on."Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples and he reprimanded Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's."The Lies We BelieveIn the same conversation, Peter is praising him. And then the enemy is saying, "Oh, go tell Jesus this, that you need to rebuke him." Those are lies from the enemy. Peter makes a serious error in judgment. And Jesus corrects him.Can you relate? I can. I will tell you my personal story. For years, I've been doing this. I will be praying in the morning. I love to prayer walk. And I am praying for our family. And I'm praying to cling to Jesus, to walk in righteousness.And by the afternoon, I'm sinning and doing something that I shouldn't. I pray every morning that we will abide in Christ and cling to the vine and Jesus' fruit will pour out of us. That we will put on the armor of God, that we will love. And I go through all 1 Corinthians 13, and the other one is that we will forgive because God forgave us.And then something happens in the middle of my day and then all of a sudden I'm sinning again and I am not trusting God. And that's sort of what Peter did. God exposes that I have wrong thoughts that need to be replaced with truth.What are some of the lies that you believe? Peter believed a lie. He believed that he needed to tell Jesus that is wrong. Don't say you're going to die and raise up in three days.One of the things I heard several years ago is that I need to yield my right to be right. I need to be humble. I need to yield my right to be right. I have begun praying that for my family mostly and then all of a sudden I was like Kerry, you're not praying this for yourself very much. You are not always the right person.I lead the leaders at our Bible study at church. I had one leader say, "Hey, before you divide into groups, could you just give me a call?" So I did. And she gave me some concerns, but she goes, "But Kerry, if you need to do this the way y'all have it planned, that's fine. Maybe God's teaching me."That was humility. She was admitting that maybe I don't have the right idea about this. I'm just going to share it with you.Some of you might be thinking, I'm not doing enough. And yet, God says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And he has made you exactly like you are because you are who you need to be for your kids.I'm not a good mom. Oh, but our identity is in Jesus, not in being a good mom. And again, he has given you everything for life and righteousness.All other moms are homeschooling better than me. That's not true.I don't have time to spend with God. Oh, but if you have time for an hour of social media, maybe you do have time to be with God.I need to fill every moment of my day so I can be enough for God. I want to make sure when I get to heaven, I've done enough. No, that's a works mentality. We need to rely on our faith and grace from Jesus.I don't have what it takes for my kids to grow up and follow God well or to homeschool. Actually, that's not true. God has given you everything you need for your children. He may not have given you everything you need to homeschool the people down the street. But he made you like you are and your kids like you are. And he supplies all your needs in Christ Jesus.God calls us to a time of quiet. He calls us to rest in him. And we don't need to fill every second of the day with activity. I personally believe we need rest. We need sleep, but we need to rest in God to trust, but we also need to rest. We need to be quiet.I'm all alone. That may be the lie that you're listening. You know what? First of all, you're not alone. You can get support. You can get support in our community group.Speaking Truth Over OurselvesSeveral years ago, I was driving home from Dallas and that week I actually sat down and wrote out some truths for me to recite to myself to pour into my soul. So I'm going to read these to you.Like Jesus, I am chosen by God to be holy. I am chosen by God for great honor. I trust in Jesus. Therefore, I am not put to shame. God loves me and always takes care of me.I am precious to God because he bought me with his son's blood. I am a daughter of the king, a princess. I live in the light, shining for Jesus all day long.I control my thoughts, my words, my food, my drink. I receive God's mercy and grace. So I give grace, mercy, and forgiveness to others.I leave my case in the hands of God who always judges fairly. I speak with pure and reverent behavior and a quiet and gentle spirit.I wait quietly on God. I am patient. I am kind. I always forgive. I forget offenses against me.The Holy Spirit renews my mind, my attitudes every day. God never leaves me, abandons me, or fails me. I listen well. I trust in God to fight my battles. He wins my battles.The one about I listen well, I realized I was interrupting my son on a regular basis. I was like, I changed that. That's a lie to interrupt people. And so I added that.Those are just some truths and most of them are very biblically based that I have to say to myself. Peter needed truth to replace the lies that he was believing.Peter's Greatest Failure: Denying JesusLet's talk about the biggest thing, the most obvious thing Peter did. He denied Jesus three times.They arrested him and led him to the high priest's home. And Peter followed from a distance. The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it. And Peter joined them there.A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. "This man was one of Jesus's followers." But Peter denied it. "Woman, I don't even know him."After a while, someone else looked at him and said, "He must be one of them." Peter says, "No, man. I'm not."About an hour later, someone else insisted, "This must be one of them because he is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about."And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. At that moment, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord's words flashed through Peter's mind. "Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny me three times."And Peter left the courtyard weeping bitterly.There was a time he was like, "Deny you? I would never deny you." And yet he didn't think he would, just like we don't think we're going to deny him, but he did. Can you imagine the shame and the guilt that he was walking with? He walks away weeping bitterly.I did not do this in my younger years or when my kids were home, but I actually truly feel badly about my sins. And I have wept over them. Some of the things that I will say, some of the things that I will do, and even some of the things that I think.If I were Peter and I denied Jesus three times, I would feel shame and guilt. Shame is a powerful thing. It can just bury us. And we don't want that to happen. And we need to get over that.God's Bigger Plans for PeterWe do that by accepting God's forgiveness. Most people that live in shame cannot truly believe that God will forgive them. There are times I have walked in shame. And yet if I pray in the morning and I'm sinning in the afternoon, I have to realize God forgives me and I just need to move on and say, "Okay, God, you are faithful. You are forgiving. I'm going to accept that and I'm going to move on because you have greater things for me. You want me to live a life of influence and a life of leadership."God had bigger plans for Peter. He used his sin to actually grow him, eventually to lead the New Testament church.Don't you think that as Peter was leading all these people, he could relate to man's shortcomings? He was dealing with people that were maybe walking in shame themselves. And he could understand that.Just like Paul, Paul persecuted the church. I mean like kill people because they trusted Jesus. And God uses those experiences for us to relate. In second Corinthians 1, God talks about our sufferings and our trials and he takes us through those things so one, we can grow closer to him, but also so we can encourage others that are walking through something similar as well.Leaders will make mistakes. Peter did. I do. You will, and your kids will. And we need to all accept God's forgiveness. We need to forgive ourselves or teach our kids to accept God's forgiveness and forgive ourselves and forgive those around us, but also learn from our mistakes.Finding Your CallingThe biggest thing I really want you to think about is we make mistakes. God forgives. Are we going to learn from that? But God has a calling for Peter. He has a calling for Peter to lead the New Testament church. He has a calling for you and he has a calling for your children.More than likely if you're here, God's calling is to homeschool your kids, to raise them to influence and to follow Jesus. But your children may have a different calling than you.Maybe your child is called to go be a missionary in Africa. We had some friends. I could not imagine now as a parent letting your kids go off to Africa or South America or wherever to be a missionary. And yet God calls us to do things like that.We need to look at our kids as they are growing up and pray for them and help them discern what God's calling for their life is. And we want to raise them to be a leader.What's a leader? It's an influencer. Peter did influence others. He started as a fisherman, but he turned into a fisher of men. 3,000 people were saved on the day of Pentecost.That is a great calling. God took his failures, put them into faith, and then continues to use them.Ready to dive deeper into raising leaders who influence for Jesus? Join us at the Life Skills Leadership Summit where we equip parents to raise kids with purpose, intention, and eternal impact. Visit lifeskillsleadershipsummit.com to learn more!

So often, we struggle to understand what God is doing because we see only with human eyes.We ask the how, the when, and the what if—trying to make sense of His plans before we trust them.Yet God never asks us for what we do not have, and He never calls us to do something He will not also give us the grace to do.As we reflect on a story we know well, perhaps God is gently inviting us to see it—and ourselves—through fresh eyes. Let's together discover what God can do with what we already have.If you enjoyed this sermon please consider subscribing.CONNECT WITH US Instagram: www.instagram.com/humeridgechurch Facebook: www.facebook.com/humeridgechurch YouTube: www.youtube.com/humeridgechurchHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? Do you have a praise point, or want to request prayer? We would love for you to get in contact with us so we can follow up with you! Please complete the contact form on our website at https://humeridge.church/contact

When we think of heroes of faith, we often imagine bold confidence and fearless action. Gideon does not fit that picture at first glance. In Judges 6 and 7, we meet a man hiding from his enemies, doubting his own ability, and repeatedly asking God for reassurance. By human standards, Gideon appears weak and hesitant. Yet God chooses him to deliver Israel from the oppressive hand of the Midianites.The story of Gideon reminds us that God does not wait for fearless people before He acts. Instead, He patiently works through fearful people who are willing to listen and obey. Again and again, God meets Gideon in his anxiety, confirms His calling, and gently leads him forward step by step. God reduces Gideon's army, not to embarrass him, but to teach him that victory depends on the Lord and not on human strength.In this passage, we are invited to see the faithfulness of God more than the flaws of Gideon. The focus is not on a gutless judge becoming brave by his own effort, but on a gracious God who guides, reassures, and empowers His servant. This same God still works through weakness to accomplish His saving purposes today.Series: Judges: The Flawed and the FaithfulScripture: Judges 6-7Speaker: Pastor David Hallett

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260206dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 Peacemaking What is a peacemaker? A peacemaker is someone who steps into tension with a goal, not to win, not to escape, but to bring peace. That sounds noble. It also sounds exhausting. Especially when we remember that people are complicated and disagreements are real, and peace isn’t always welcome. So, Jesus’ words come to us both as a comfort and a challenge: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Before we think about what it means for us to make peace, we need to start with the One who made peace with us. The Bible says that by nature we weren’t neutral toward God. We were actually opposed to him. Our sin created a war we couldn’t end. Yet God didn't stand at a distance, demanding that we make the first move. Instead, he sent his Son to reconcile us to himself. Jesus made peace not by ignoring sin but by carrying it. Not by pretending the conflict didn’t matter but by absorbing its full cost in his own body on the cross. His resurrection declared victory. Peace is now yours, fully and forever. That peace with God becomes the foundation for peace with others. Peacemaking doesn’t mean surrendering truth. It doesn’t mean allowing harm to continue or pretending wrong is right. It means approaching every person in conflict as someone who has been forgiven much and loved deeply. It means speaking truth without hostility, offering grace without conditions, and seeking understanding instead of retaliation. Peacemaking is often quiet and unseen, but Jesus sees it. And here is his promise: “They will be called children of God.” Not because peacemaking earns your place in God’s family, but because it reflects the character of the Father who brought you into it. Every act of peacemaking whispers that you are blessed to belong to the God who made peace with you through Christ. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for making peace between God and me. Give me a heart that is gentle, truthful, and willing to seek peace. Help me reflect your love in every conflict I face. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260206dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 Peacemaking What is a peacemaker? A peacemaker is someone who steps into tension with a goal, not to win, not to escape, but to bring peace. That sounds noble. It also sounds exhausting. Especially when we remember that people are complicated and disagreements are real, and peace isn’t always welcome. So, Jesus’ words come to us both as a comfort and a challenge: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Before we think about what it means for us to make peace, we need to start with the One who made peace with us. The Bible says that by nature we weren’t neutral toward God. We were actually opposed to him. Our sin created a war we couldn’t end. Yet God didn't stand at a distance, demanding that we make the first move. Instead, he sent his Son to reconcile us to himself. Jesus made peace not by ignoring sin but by carrying it. Not by pretending the conflict didn’t matter but by absorbing its full cost in his own body on the cross. His resurrection declared victory. Peace is now yours, fully and forever. That peace with God becomes the foundation for peace with others. Peacemaking doesn’t mean surrendering truth. It doesn’t mean allowing harm to continue or pretending wrong is right. It means approaching every person in conflict as someone who has been forgiven much and loved deeply. It means speaking truth without hostility, offering grace without conditions, and seeking understanding instead of retaliation. Peacemaking is often quiet and unseen, but Jesus sees it. And here is his promise: “They will be called children of God.” Not because peacemaking earns your place in God’s family, but because it reflects the character of the Father who brought you into it. Every act of peacemaking whispers that you are blessed to belong to the God who made peace with you through Christ. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for making peace between God and me. Give me a heart that is gentle, truthful, and willing to seek peace. Help me reflect your love in every conflict I face. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

The jailer . . . was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. — Acts 16:34 It wasn't a place they would have chosen to stay for the night. Yet God chose a prison cell to be the place where Paul and Silas would share the gospel. And they were determined, despite the situation, to praise and honor God. So in the middle of the night they prayed and sang hymns to God. Then, suddenly, a great earthquake shook the prison, opened all the doors, and broke everyone's chains! Next the story gets even more interesting. The jailer “was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, ‘Don't harm yourself! We are all here!'” Amazed and trembling, the jailer asked Paul and Silas about the God they served. He invited them into his house, and his whole household heard the story of Jesus. The jailer shared food and cared for them as Jesus became the center of conversation. And the whole household came to believe in God. Recently a team of volunteers was helping people clean up after a hurricane and flooding. They entered a house where a woman had not received any help and had lost hope. As they came and helped, her outlook changed. The hands and feet of Jesus were now ministering to her and others in her community. And the team was able to share the story of Jesus with them, even in the midst of their loss. How can you share the peace and love of God with someone who is struggling?  Dear God, help us to connect with you. And where people are struggling, help us to bring hope through your message of love and peace. Amen.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260206dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 Peacemaking What is a peacemaker? A peacemaker is someone who steps into tension with a goal, not to win, not to escape, but to bring peace. That sounds noble. It also sounds exhausting. Especially when we remember that people are complicated and disagreements are real, and peace isn’t always welcome. So, Jesus’ words come to us both as a comfort and a challenge: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Before we think about what it means for us to make peace, we need to start with the One who made peace with us. The Bible says that by nature we weren’t neutral toward God. We were actually opposed to him. Our sin created a war we couldn’t end. Yet God didn't stand at a distance, demanding that we make the first move. Instead, he sent his Son to reconcile us to himself. Jesus made peace not by ignoring sin but by carrying it. Not by pretending the conflict didn’t matter but by absorbing its full cost in his own body on the cross. His resurrection declared victory. Peace is now yours, fully and forever. That peace with God becomes the foundation for peace with others. Peacemaking doesn’t mean surrendering truth. It doesn’t mean allowing harm to continue or pretending wrong is right. It means approaching every person in conflict as someone who has been forgiven much and loved deeply. It means speaking truth without hostility, offering grace without conditions, and seeking understanding instead of retaliation. Peacemaking is often quiet and unseen, but Jesus sees it. And here is his promise: “They will be called children of God.” Not because peacemaking earns your place in God’s family, but because it reflects the character of the Father who brought you into it. Every act of peacemaking whispers that you are blessed to belong to the God who made peace with you through Christ. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for making peace between God and me. Give me a heart that is gentle, truthful, and willing to seek peace. Help me reflect your love in every conflict I face. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Fear of the Lord: Reverent Trust That Shapes the Christian Life Show: Anchored in the Word (Servants of Grace Podcast)Host: Dave Jenkins Show Summary What does it mean to fear the Lord and why does it matter for everyday Christian living? In this episode of Anchored in the Word, Dave Jenkins explains that the fear of God is not terror that drives us away, but reverent trust that draws us near. The fear of the Lord produces wisdom, deepens worship, drives out lesser fears, and shapes how we read Scripture, pray, fight sin, endure trials, and live with confidence in God's unshakable kingdom. Audio Player Video Player Episode Notes Key Scriptures Psalm 111:10 Proverbs 1:7 Hebrews 12:28–29 Acts 9:31 Matthew 10:28–31 Big Idea The fear of the Lord is trusting reverence a weighty, joyful awareness of God's holiness that leads to wisdom, worship, obedience, and freedom from the fear of man. Full Article What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord? Few phrases appear as often in Scripture and are misunderstood as often as “the fear of the Lord.” Some hear that phrase and imagine dread, anxiety, or the kind of terror that makes a person run and hide. But that is not how the Bible teaches God's people to understand this fear. Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 1:7 adds, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Isaiah calls the fear of the Lord a treasure for God's people (Isa. 33:6). And the book of Acts describes the early church as walking “in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:31). The fear of the Lord is not presented as a passing theme, but as a foundational mark of faithful living. The Fear of the Lord Is Not Terror, but Trusting Reverence When Scripture calls believers to fear God, it is not calling us to the kind of fear that makes us run away from Him. It is the kind of fear that draws us near—because it recognizes who God is. He is holy. He is righteous. He is sovereign. He is mighty. And He is worthy of obedience, honor, and worship. In other words, the fear of the Lord is a trembling that loves God—not a terror that hides from Him. Think of Isaiah in Isaiah 6. He sees the glory of the Lord, trembles, and confesses his sin. Yet God cleanses him and sends him on mission. Or consider Peter in Luke 5. When Jesus fills the nets with fish, Peter falls down and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Yet Jesus does not cast him away He draws him near and says, “Do not be afraid.” True fear of God humbles us, exposes our sin, and then drives us to the grace and mercy of God. The Fear of the Lord Produces Wisdom Proverbs tells us plainly that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Why? Because fearing God rightly does at least three vital things. It puts God in His proper place as holy and authoritative. Since God is God, His Word is true, His commands are good, and His ways lead to life. It puts us in our proper place as dependent and needy. We are not wise on our own. We are not strong on our own. We are not righteous on our own. But God is all these things, and He supplies what we lack. It reorients how we see the world. Life stops being about self-rule and becomes about God's rule. Life stops being about our wisdom and becomes about God's wisdom. Wisdom begins when we bow before a sovereign God as revealed in His Word. Foolishness begins when we refuse to bow to Him. The Fear of the Lord Drives Out Lesser Fears One of the great paradoxes of Scripture is this: when you fear the Lord, you fear nothing else. And when you do not fear the Lord, you fear everything else. The fear of the Lord frees us from the fear of man, the fear of the future, the fear of suffering, and the fear of death. Why? Because the God you fear is the God who saves you, keeps you, and holds you. Jesus says in Matthew 10: “Do not fear those who kill the body… rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” And then He immediately comforts His people by reminding them they are of more value than many sparrows. The fear of the Lord produces both sobriety and security—because God is holy, and God is also faithful. The Fear of the Lord Fuels Worship and Joyful Obedience The fear of the Lord is not cold, dry, or distant. It produces worship. It produces delight. It produces obedience rooted in love. Hebrews 12:28–29 calls believers to offer acceptable worship “with reverence and awe,” because our God is a consuming fire. God's holiness is weighty. His glory is real. His presence is not casual. A casual view of God leads to casual obedience. A weighty and biblical view of God leads to joyful obedience. This is why Acts 9:31 says the early church walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit not fear or comfort, but fear and comfort together. The fear of the Lord and the comfort of God are not enemies; they belong together in the Christian life. How the Fear of the Lord Shapes Everyday Christian Living What does the fear of the Lord look like on Monday morning? It shapes how you read the Word of God—you come recognizing it is God's authoritative voice. It shapes how you pray—boldly, yet humbly; confidently, yet reverently. It shapes how you fight sin—you take sin seriously because God takes sin seriously. It shapes how you love others—you aim to honor God in relationships, home, and church. It shapes how you endure trials—you rest in God's sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness even when life is painful. Walking in the fear of the Lord aligns your whole life under God's authority and God's grace as revealed in His Word not as a burden, but as a blessing. Final Encouragement Psalm 112:1 says, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.” The fear of the Lord is to delight in Him. To bow before Him is to find life in Him. To reverence Him is to rest in Him. May God help each of us to walk in the fear of the Lord with reverence, with joy, with trust, and with confidence in His unshakable kingdom. Episode Highlights The fear of the Lord is not terror—it is reverent trust that draws us near to God. The fear of the Lord produces wisdom by putting God in His rightful place and us in ours. The fear of the Lord drives out lesser fears—especially the fear of man, the future, and suffering. The fear of the Lord fuels worship marked by reverence and awe, because our God is holy. The fear of the Lord shapes daily life: Bible intake, prayer, holiness, relationships, endurance, and joy. Takeaways Ask the Lord to give you a weighty view of His holiness and a warm confidence in His grace. Identify where the fear of man is controlling you—and replace it with reverent trust in God. Approach Scripture and prayer with humility, confidence, and reverence. Let the fear of the Lord produce joyful obedience rather than casual Christianity. Call to Action If this episode encouraged you, please consider: Subscribe to the Servants of Grace Podcast for more biblical teaching. Share this episode with a friend or your church small group. Thank you for listening. May the Lord help us walk in the fear of the Lord with reverence, joy, trust, and confidence in His unshakable kingdom. For more from Anchored in the Word with Dave please visit our page at Servants of Grace or at our YouTube.

How can we intentionally build genuine, life-giving friendships?We all want strong friendships, but sometimes these connections can seem difficult to find. Too many of us end up living in isolation. Yet God makes it clear that we need one another. We are his body, and we are called to grow and work together. Relationships with others are a central part of the Christian life. Join Laura Taylor and Matt Swords as they talk about practical ways we can build godly friendships that will bring strength and encouragement to our lives.

This Sunday, we'll turn to the prophet Micah, another short book that packs a serious punch. Micah is written to people who look spiritually healthy on the outside but are deeply compromised on the inside. Worship is happening, sacrifices are offered, and religious life appears vibrant. Yet God exposes a sobering reality: proximity to religion does not equal faithfulness to God. Micah reminds us that God is not fooled by appearances, and that religious activity without transformed hearts ultimately rings hollow. Micah opens with courtroom language. God summons the whole world as His witness and brings charges against His own people. He begins with especially corrupt leadership and social injustice. Those entrusted to protect had become predatory, and those with power exploited the vulnerable. God makes clear that faith that ignores justice misunderstands His character. When confronted, the people ask what God wants - more sacrifices, bigger offerings, greater performance? God's answer is simple and unsettling: He has already told them what is good. That answer comes in Micah 6:8 "...to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." This week, we'll explore how these three belong together, especially as justice intersects with real and difficult issues in our culture. We'll see how God anchors justice in memory, mercy, and humility, and ultimately how Micah points us to Jesus, the promised King from Bethlehem, who bears judgment so we can receive mercy. My prayer is that God uses this text not just to inform us, but to reshape how we live as His people.

Abraham's journey to Gerar reveals how fear can drive even faithful people back to old patterns of deception. When King Abimelech took Sarah, Abraham repeated his earlier lie about her being his sister rather than his wife. Yet God intervened through dreams to protect His covenant, demonstrating that divine faithfulness outlasts human failure. Remarkably, the pagan king showed more integrity than God's chosen servant, serving as a sobering reminder for believers. This story teaches us that spiritual maturity doesn't create immunity to sin, but God's purposes remain secure even when His people stumble.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK ME: Sermon Outline⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIKTOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEBSITE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

On this day the Jewish religion celebrates Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for Trees. The observance is named for its date, the fifteenth of Shevat, the eleventh month on the Hebrew calendar. While it is based on a passage in Leviticus 19 about the timing of eating the fruit from newly planted trees, in modern days it has become Israel's Arbor Day. Yet God's focus on trees goes profoundly beyond Tu B'Shevat; He uses the analogy of trees to point us to amazing truths about human kind and the life He has planned for all who believe.

When God calls us to rebuild, resistance often follows. In Nehemiah 4, the work doesn’t stop—but the opposition gets louder. Discouragement creeps in. Fear tries to take over. Yet God shows His people how to persevere, stay focused, and keep building, even when the pressure is real. If you’ve ever felt pushed back, worn down, or tempted to quit on what God has called you to rebuild—this message is for you. Discussion Questions: In Nehemiah 4:1-3, opposition comes quickly and loudly through ridicule and discouragement. What specific tactics do Sanballat and Tobiah use, and what do they seem to be aiming at beneath the surface? What does this reveal about how opposition often works when God’s people step out in obedience? In verses 4-6, Nehemiah’s response is prayer followed by continued work. What do you notice about how Nehemiah prays, and how that prayer shapes the people’s resolve to keep building? Why do you think prayer and perseverance are paired so closely here? In verses 7-14, the threat escalates from mockery to potential violence. How does Nehemiah address both the spiritual fear and the practical danger facing the people? What stands out to you about his call to “remember the Lord, who is great and awesome”? Jon talked about opposition being almost inevitable when God’s work is moving forward. Where have you experienced discouragement, fear, or resistance when trying to rebuild something God cares about in your life? Nehemiah leads God’s people to remember the Lord in the face of opposition. How does Jesus ultimately fulfill this role as the One who stands in the gap for us, fights for us, and secures our victory? How does that reality change the way you respond to opposition or discouragement right now?

ermon Recap | “Faith in a Bad Market”Jeremiah 32:1–44Today's message reminded us that faith does not wait for perfect conditions. In Jeremiah 32, God tells the prophet to buy land at the worst possible time. Jerusalem is under attack, the economy has collapsed, and Jeremiah is in prison. Yet God calls him to act in faith, not fear.Jeremiah obeys because he trusts God's promise that restoration is coming. Even though judgment was certain, God assured His people that their future was not over. Houses, fields, and vineyards would one day be bought again in the land.This passage teaches us that real faith steps forward when everything says to pull back. Faith is not ignoring reality; it is choosing to trust God more than what we can see. Jeremiah obeyed publicly, prayed honestly, and placed his questions and fears before the Lord.God responded by reminding Jeremiah that nothing is too hard for Him. While discipline was necessary, restoration was guaranteed. God was working for His people's good and shaping their hearts to trust Him fully.The takeaway:Don't let fear make your decisions. Trust God even when circumstances look bad. Ask yourself, “What field is God asking me to buy right now?” Step out in obedience, leave the results to Him, and have faith even in a bad market.

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Exodus 14-16 ;Acts 2 Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast! On this 26th day of January, Hunter welcomes both new and returning listeners as we continue our journey through the Bible, reminding us that this is more than just a reading plan—it's an invitation to transformation and deeper faith. In today's episode, we dive into Exodus chapters 14 through 16 and Acts chapter 2, witnessing the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea, God's miraculous provision of manna, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Hunter reflects on what stands in our way, whether it's insurmountable obstacles or small, bitter moments, and points us toward God's power to deliver, heal, and fulfill His promises. With heartfelt prayers and practical encouragement, he invites us to keep walking this daily journey together—one step at a time—trusting in God's love, strength, and joy for whatever lies ahead. So, grab your Bible and join us as we listen, reflect, and pray, allowing God's word to shape our lives today. Certainly! Here is the devotional section, transcribed from after the scripture reading and before the prayer, presented in the matching tone, style, and format of your example: TODAY'S DEVOTION: What's standing in your way? Is it as big as the Red Sea? Or maybe it's just a small pond, but the waters in that pond are bitter. What is standing in your way? What keeps you from moving forward? Where are you stuck? In today's story, the people of Israel were stuck. When they stared out over the impossibility of that giant Red Sea, they were stuck. And when they stared into that small little pond called Marah, they were stuck. In both cases, they faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and in both cases, God found a way to move them through what was standing in their way. And when God delivered them, there was dancing, worship, and song. They sang and danced because God delivered them by taking them across the Red Sea, saving them from Pharaoh's army. But only three days later, it wasn't the Red Sea anymore—it was a small, bitter pond. There, their song turned into complaint. Rather than looking to God, they looked for someone to blame. That's a picture of our own hearts. Our singing can so quickly turn to blaming. Yet God has nothing to apologize for. He promises to bring us out of bondage and into the land of promise. The real obstacle is not the sea or the bitter water—it's our own hearts. It's about whether we will see God for who he really is: a God who sees us, fights for us, delivers us, and makes good on his promises. Will we see ourselves as ransomed, delivered, no longer slaves but God's very own possession? At Marah, God showed Moses a tree—a healing tree. God told him to throw the tree into the bitter waters, and the poison was absorbed. Healing was released. The picture is clear: God, in his great love, knowing our tendency to despair, provided a healing tree—a foreshadowing of the cross, where Jesus absorbed our poison and released his life into us. God's answer for our heart is himself, offered for us on the tree. He makes a way through the impassable, so humanity can be released into true life. This life is meant to be lived in faith, trusting the God who is good, believing that he has truly transformed us through his great act of deliverance and love. We are no longer slaves, but his. The healing life of that tree is for you, right now, today. My prayer is that I'll see this by faith, that I'll hold on to this gift as I read and reflect on my life. That I will possess the one who has possessed me. That I'll adore him, worship, sing, and even dance. And that's a prayer that I have for my own soul, for my family—for my wife, my daughters, and my son—and that's a 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  

THE GOD WHO IS… Overflowing with Loyal LoveHave you ever filled out a job application and they say “tell us about yourself – describe your personality ; your core values”. You know what you write down is going to reveal whether you are qualified or the right fit for the job…  If you started out, “I'm basically a good guy… sharp, creative, personable, responsible…. BUT don't mess with me before my coffee in the morning – whoa – I can be grumpy and moody… Or Im pretty organized, but don't look in my closet… Or I'm patient – I get along with people but there's things that push my buttons… whoa unto you if you do… THE BEAR COMES OUT OF THE CAVE…This would not be recommended if you are looking for a job in HRSociologists say, there are over 4,000 religions in the world – cut and pasted from ancient beliefs and creeds as well as modern day thought…. Many of them with the same question – WHO ARE YOU GOD? Today – we are going to look again about what God says about HimselfWE ARE IN SERIES – THE GOD WHO IS…Looking at the history of the Children of Israel – the IsraelitesGod has chosen them to reveal Himself to the whole world – His nature, His desires, His eternal plan.He promises to keep a covenant with them that He made to their forefathers 1000 years prior – that He would be there God… Fast forward – the foundation of that covenant is now extended through Christ to you and me – That He would be Our GodAs God begins to form and develop the Israelites into His People – essentially Moses asks the same questions in the book of Exodus 33 _ He asks God to reveal Himself  -  in Exodus 34… Only a few times in Scripture – God describes Himself – His character and nature – our anchor text is the moment when God reveals His own character:FOUNDATIONAL SCRIPTUREExodus 34:6–7 (NIV) The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and graciousGod, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.We've looked at God's “Self Description:Compassionate — a God moved in His deepest being by our pain.Gracious — a God who gives delightfully undeserved gifts.Slow to anger — a God who is patient and does not rush to judgment.Today we come to the fourth phrase:“abounding in love” — or as we'll say it: “overflowing with loyal love.”LET'S TALK ABOUT “LOYAL LOVE”INTRODUCTION — WHEN SOMEONE STAYSMost of us know what it feels like to wonder if someone will stay.You messed up in a relationship…You failed to follow through on a promise…You disappointed someone who believed in you…And deep down, you're asking:“Are you still here? Or is this the moment you walk away?”Think about those rare moments when instead of walking away, that personlooks you in the eye and says:“I'm hurt - I'm honest about that…but I'm not going anywhere.I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.”That is more than forgiveness.  That is more than a second chance.That is a kind of stubborn grace — a love that doesn't just pardon you, it stays with you.In Scripture, that stubborn, promise-keeping, staying love is not just something God does…It is something God is.I. THE HEBREW WORD —KHESED חֶסֶ (Khawsed) The word translated “love” here is the Hebrew word khesed (חֶסֶד).KHESED IS ONE OF THE RICHEST, HARDEST-TO-TRANSLATE WORDS IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE.NO SINGLE ENGLISH WORD CAPTURES IT.It combines these qualities:Love – genuine affection and care.Generosity – going above and beyond what's required.Enduring commitment – a promise that sticks, even when it hurts.So you'll see it translated in Bible versions as:“steadfast love”“great love”“unfailing love”“lovingkindness”“mercy”“loyal love”Khesed describes promise-keeping loyalty motivated by deep personalcare.How do we contrast it to our ”natural love”, our transactional love? Not contract.Not cold obligation.Not “I'll do my part if you do yours.”Khesed is:“I'm not leaving.I'm not quitting.I'm not withdrawing my heart.”My commitment is not based on your performance, but based on my character of keeping vows, looking passed flaws; being quick to forgive; knowing your potential, trusting your growth; and believing the best;DO YOU HAVE ANY FRIENDS LIKE THAT? COVENANT FRIENDS? I'M BLESSED TO HAVE SOME IN THIS ROOM … Oris Martin's memorial – his daughter was paying tribute to her dad – About his “Loyal Love To Her”HE SAID – “I ll always have your back” MORE DESCRIPTIVE  - ‘I'LL HAVE YOUR BACK LIKE A TIGHT BRA STRAP” (Im going to archive this) II. RUTH — The Lord gave us a s story to reveal it - A HUMAN PICTURE OF KHESEDOne of the clearest illustrations of khesed is found in the OT book of Ruth.Ruth is a Moabite woman from an outside tribe – she  married into an Israelite family.Her husband dies.His brother dies. – according to custom – next in line to provideHer father-in-law dies – last line of supportAll that's left are three widows: Naomi is Ruth's mother-in -law… left with the other two widowed daughters-in-law.Naomi has nothing left to offer.No income.No security.No future.She tells Ruth“Go back to your people. Start over. There's nothing for you with me.”From a human perspective, the logical thing is to leave.But Ruth does the opposite.She says, in essence:“Where you go, I'll go.Your people will be my people.Your God will be my God.I will stay with you—until death.”She binds her future to Naomi's empty future.She chooses the hard, costly road of staying.And as the story unfolds and people watch Ruth keep this promise, they call her faithfulness acts of khesed (see Ruth 3:10–11).Ruth's khesed is not based on Naomi's usefulness, worth, or ability to repay.It is a window into Ruth's character.She is a person of loyal love.She is a person of generous, promise-keeping commitment.And that is what khesed looks like in human form.III. GOD'S KHESED TO JACOB — LOYAL LOVE TO A DECEIVERBut as inspiring as Ruth is, the Bible is clear: No one shows more khesed than God.From earlier generations - Take Jacob – son of IssacJacob is not a moral hero.He lies.He deceives his father.He cheats his brother.He manipulates situations for his own advantage.Yet God chooses Jacob.God repeats to him the promise He gave to Jacob's  grandfather- Abraham:“I'm going to bless you, give you many descendants, and through your family I will bless the nations.”Jacob runs away in fear and shame.For twenty years he lives in exile.Then, on the way back home, terrified of facing his brother, Esau – whom he has cheated for his birthright, Jacob prays:Genesis 32:10 (ESV)“I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of khesed (steadfast love) and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.”Jacob is right.He is not worthy.But that's the point.God's khesed was never based on Jacob's worth.It was never “If you perform, I'll stay.”It was always “I have chosen you, and I am committed to My promise.”God's khesed is a display of God's generous loyalty, not Jacob's behavior.IV. GOD'S KHESED TO ISRAEL — HE KEEPS RESCUINGGod's khesed continues into the story of Jacob's descendants—Israel.They end up enslaved in Egypt for hundreds of years.We're told that God “remembers His covenant” with Abraham and Jacob.To “remember” in Hebrew doesn't mean God forgot.It means God is about to act in faithfulness to His promise.So God defeats Egypt, raises up Moses, and leads Israel toward the promisedland.In the song of Moses, after the Red Sea, they sing:Exodus 15:13 (ESV) “You have led in your steadfast love (khesed) the people whom you have redeemed…”Their liberation is called an act of khesed because God is keeping His word.But the story doesn't stay triumphant for long.On the way to the promised land, Israel sees the nations around them, and feargrips their hearts.They doubt that God can protect them.They talk about appointing a new leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt.They are ready to kill Moses.LET THAT SINK IN:God has rescued them.God has provided for them.God has revealed Himself to them. And they want to go back to bondage.God is understandably hurt and angry.But in Numbers 14, Moses intercedes:Numbers 14:19 (NIV) “In accordance with your great love (khesed), forgive the sin of these people…”Moses doesn't base his request on Israel's behavior.He bases it on God's character.“God, be who You are. Do what is consistent with Your khesed.”And God does. He forgives.He recommits Himself to a people who don't want to be committed to Him.V. HUMAN LOVE VS. GOD'S LOYAL LOVEIn the Bible, God is loyal and loving for no other reason than that's who He is.Of course, God desires His people to respond with khesed in return—to love Him truly, to keep covenant, to love others with the same loyal love.But even when they don't… God's khesed remains.The prophet Hosea says:Hosea 6:4 - Israel's khesed is “like the morning mist” —here one moment, gone the next.Our loyalty is often fragile.Our commitment is often temporary.Our promises are often conditional.But God's khesed is enduring.That's why Psalm 136 opens with:“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good…”And then repeats 26 times:“for His khesed (steadfast love) endures forever.”Over creation.Over history.Over rebellion.Over enemies.Over everything.God's loyal love outlasts human unfaithfulness.VI. JESUS — THE FULLNESS OF GOD'S LOYAL LOVEAfter centuries of Israel breaking their covenant,and after humanity's long history of violence, idolatry, and death…God still keeps His promise in the most dramatic way possible:He becomes human.In Jesus, God binds Himself to us in a new and deeper way.The New Testament writers reach for words like:agapē (ἀγάπη) – self-giving, sacrificial love.eleos (ἔλεος) – mercy, compassion in action.charis (χάρις) – gracious gift, undeserved favor.All of these overlap with the Old Testament idea of khesed.In John 1, we're told that Jesus comes “full of grace and truth.”That phrase “grace and truth” echoes the Hebrew pairing khesed we'emet —“loyal love and faithfulness.”The early followers of Jesus looked at Him and said:“In Him, we have encountered the God of Israelwho is full of loyal love and faithfulness.”Jesus is:The ultimate loyal and loving human,The perfect image of God's khesed in a human life,The one who loves “to the end” (John 13:1).In His life, death, and resurrection, God opens a new future for us and allcreation.Not because we earned it…But because this is who God is:Generous.Loving.Eternally loyal to His promises.VII. WHEN GOD'S LOYAL LOVE TOUCHES USWhen we truly experience the purity and power of God's loyal love shownthrough Jesus, it doesn't leave us neutral.It compels us.It moves us.It reorients us.We begin to reimagine:Why we love God.How we love people.What commitment looks like in a world of easy exits.Because if this kind of khesed is in God's character,it should begin to show up in our character.VIII. HOW WE SHOW KHESED BACK TO GOD AND OTHERS1. Khesed toward God — measured and revealed in faithful devotion, not occasional attention.If God has bound Himself to us in covenant love, we respond not with “casual spirituality,” but with whole-hearted devotion.Choosing Him when it's costly.Trusting Him when we don't see the way.Obeying Him when it would be easier to compromise.We don't earn His khesed by doing this.We reflect His khesed by doing this.2. Khesed toward people — “Staying” love in a Leaving world. We live in a culture of:ghosting,cancelling,quitting,disposable relationships. God calls His people to a different way:In marriage: keeping vows when feelings fluctuate.In friendship: showing up when there's nothing to gain.In church: staying engaged, serving, forgiving, building, instead ofbouncing at the first offense.In community: caring for the vulnerable when they can't pay you back.ILLUST: MARRIAGE - I CHOOSE YOU… OVER AND OVER AGAIN – 45 YEARSIn marriage, I chose you and I choose you againWhen I first begin to date… sitting in her living room – 2 phone calls from different guys – no cell phones or voicemails… I think- shes got a few choices  Then she tells me a “friend” from UCSB is coming down… wants to go to dinnerFine.. no problem… you are friends… “God, if Jan is the one it will all work out”… sitting there watching ‘sports center:… How good of friends are they?  AM I THE CHOSEN ONE? - “God if he tries to kiss her – take a coal from your altar and scorch his lips”A desire to be chosen… our commitment to that choice has protected our vows for 45 years   Khesed IS COVENENTAL LOVE . IT says:“Even when you're empty, I won't withdraw.Even when this is hard, I won't run.Even when you have little to offer, I'll keep showing up.”Not because people always deserve it, but because God is forming His loyal love in us.3. Khesed toward the undeserving — because that's how God loved us.Remember Jacob.Remember Israel.Remember you.We love with khesed not because people have earned it,but because God extended it to us first.“We love because He first loved us.”Story –  I'll call him “ Bryan” (Ryan Inclan) – from Passover Days- 25 years agoPaul Rogers from Intervarsity invited himBryan - Struggling w faith and as much with identity and habitsPaul moved – asked me if I would stay in touch with Bryan – and asked if he could give Bryan my number – I naively said “yes” not really knowing what that would mean - That was probably 25 years ago… Bryan died about a month ago now. Bryan moved to the Bay Area - fought major Bipolar Disorder along with several other Psychological disorders,He'd call up, friendly, hopeful. In a small group - happyThen weeks later - Midnight texts – desperate, self -hating… just been online doing things in chat rooms – struggling with sexual identity… pray for meI'd leave scripture messages – reinforcing this is Who You Are Now… encouraging him to connect with a church – he tried several churches – goes good – then collapses; there was always an enemy – somebody hurt him; offended him; doesn't understand himThrough the years - Dad dies; mother dies… desperationPaul & I drove to SF to get him in a psych hospitalThen Weeks – no communication… maybe he's better… connected with a local group… no… in relapse… hiding… ashamedTwo months later -  manic weeks – all is better… I found a mens group – im praying againMANY TIMES – Im done… You are way beyond my comfort zone… And my pay gradeSomehow we would re-connect – late night  1 hr caounseling calls … Jan would shake her headHe got liver cancer about 6 months ago… Me and a group of people on a Text thread – praying emoji's, heart emoji's… encouraging words and prayersHe died in peace, believing – GOSPELS – Guys tearing open a roof to lower a friend down to be healed.  For 25 years – tearing off guilt, shame, mental torment in short seasons of relief…Bryan finally made it – now he is healedIX. PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR HEARTSWhere am I tempted to walk away instead of stay?Where am I loving only as long as it benefits me?Where is God calling me to reflect His loyal love by keeping a promise,extending grace, or refusing to give up?And deeper still:Where have I underestimated God's loyalty to me?Some of you live like God is one failure away from leaving.In Exodus 34 and the whole story of Scripture shout:“His khesed endures forever.”His love Is LOYAL – so much so that:He may discipline. He may confront. But all for your best interestHe may hand you over to the consequences of your choices for a season, so we see clearly the destructive paths we are on.He does not abandon His promises to be with you and guide you through.He does not abandon His people. He is an Everlasting Father.He does not abandon His plan of redemption – toward you or anyone who calls upon HimCONCLUSION — THE GOD WHO WILL NOT LET GOSo when God says of Himself:“I am abounding in love…”He is saying:“I am overflowing with khesed—with loyal, generous, enduring love.I keep My promises.I stay.I do not quit on what I have begun.”Jesus is the ultimate proof of that.He stepped into our story.He took on our flesh.He bore our sin.He rose with new life.He promised to be with us “always, even to the end of the age.”This is THE GOD WHO IS OVERFLOWING WITH LOYAL LOVE.And if that is who He is, then by the power of His Spirit, that is who He is shaping us to become.ALTAR CALL… He is loyal in his love for us… Even when we aren't feeling itMaybe this is new to you – this foreign kind of unconditional love – it was for me – works basedMaybe you sense it right now – he does love you; He wants you to know him… and enter into this Loyal Love we are talking about.You might say – “I'll never be able to keep my end of the deal… I‘ve got too much stuff going on… Yea – but I can say “you've never been loved like this before…” It's transformativeIt starts w Romans 10:9-10 – a vow Altar Call – side room you sense He's pulled back or away from you… But I would ask… Have you pulled back from HimThere are places and things He won't condone or endorse… again It's about love… Strength to break free and walk it out..As we close – make a commitment to come up hereNext time, we'll look at the fifth trait in this powerful description:“THE GOD WHO IS FAITHFUL.” But today, may we rest in His loyal love,and may we mirror that loyal loveto a world that desperately needs to see it.  

Joshua 1 ends with Israel finally ready to move. After 40 years of wandering, God's people are standing on the edge of the Promised Land. The moment has come to cross the Jordan and take possession of Canaan. But there's a problem… The land is already occupied. And the first obstacle is Jericho—a fortified city with massive walls and a culture deeply opposed to God.That's where Joshua 2 begins—and with it, one of the most surprising stories in Scripture.Enter Rahab. A prostitute. A pagan. A social outcast. The LAST person anyone would expect God to use. Yet God has always worked through imperfect people in messy places to accomplish holy purposes.

The Wisdom of Jethro and Why the Church Must Hear It Again • Sunday Service Website: www.PastorTodd.org To give: www.ToddCoconato.com/give Church, there are moments in Scripture that feel quiet, almost hidden, yet they carry explosive wisdom for every generation. The story of Jethro is one of those moments. It is not dramatic like the Red Sea. It is not thunderous like Sinai. But it is profoundly practical, and that is exactly why we need it right now. This passage shows us how God protects His work, His leaders, and His people from burnout, collapse, and unnecessary strain. 1. Even God-Appointed Leaders Can Become Overloaded Moses was called by God. He heard God's voice. He carried authority. He walked in miracles. Yet Exodus 18 tells us that Moses sat from morning till evening judging the people alone. Jethro watched this and said something startling: “What you are doing is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out.” Exodus 18:17–18 NKJV 2. God Often Speaks Through Wise, Godly Counsel Jethro was not an Israelite leader. He was Moses' father-in-law. Yet God used him as a voice of protection and correction. This teaches us humility. God does not only speak through dramatic encounters. He speaks through relationships, through godly counsel, through people who can see what we can no longer see because we are too close to the problem. Proverbs says: “In the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14 NKJV 3. Delegation Is Not a Lack of Faith. It Is Obedience Jethro did not tell Moses to stop leading. He told him to lead differently. “Select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them.” Exodus 18:21 NKJV 4. The Health of the Leader Affects the Health of the People Jethro warned Moses that if he continued this way, both he and the people would suffer. That is a sobering word for the Church today. When leaders are exhausted, families feel it. When pastors burn out, churches drift. When ministry becomes survival instead of obedience, vision fades. God cares about sustainability because He cares about longevity. “If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure.” Exodus 18:23 NKJV 5. This Is a Blueprint for the End-Time Church We are living in a season of urgency. The harvest is great. The pressure is real. Many leaders are carrying far more than they were meant to carry alone. The Jethro principle teaches us: Build teams, not empires Raise leaders, not dependents Protect spiritual stamina Stay humble and teachable This is not about efficiency alone. It is about obedience and fruitfulness. The enemy loves isolated leaders. God builds unified bodies. Church, the story of Jethro is not about management. It is about wisdom. It is about humility. It is about understanding that God's work done God's way will never destroy God's servants. If you are weary, hear this word. God never asked you to carry everything alone. If you are leading, ask this question honestly. Who has God sent to help carry the load? And if you are part of the body, understand this. Your faithfulness matters. Your service matters. Your obedience strengthens the whole. The Kingdom advances best when every part supplies what God designed it to give. Let us be a people who listen, who share the burden, and who endure until the work is finished. Show less

In a world that prizes speed, busyness, and constant achievement, the idea of stopping can feel impossible—if not irresponsible. Yet God calls us to a radically different rhythm: a rhythm of Sabbath rest.This Sunday we will explore the various factors that led to Israel's resistance to the Sabbath much to the detriment of their own souls. Together, we'll discover practical ways to reclaim rest in a world of hurry and consider how we can thrive when so many are struggling to survive.

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptMy name is Spencer, I'm one of the pastors here. We are in week three of a four week series on New Testament prayers. So we are looking at some prayers that are in the New Testament and trying to capture some of the truth that is bound up in them so that it might encourage us in our prayers but also help us grow in the discipline of prayer which is vital for the life of the Christian. So we'll finish this, we have one next week and then we'll jump back into Second Samuel. So we're gonna be in Ephesians chapter three today, verses 14 through 21. It's on page 568 in the blue Bibles. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that blue Bible. That's a, that's a gift we want. You have a Bible that you can read, but you can follow along with us. The text will also be on the screen.There are some things in life that you learn kind of on your own through reasoning and all types of things. And then there are things that happen to you that just change you. Some external forces that just absolutely change your life. So this can happen in a variety of ways. One of the clear ones that happened for me was when we had our first child. So, you know, heard for years that we have a child, it'll change you. Have a child, it will change you. And kind of do that at some experiential level. That was going to happen before we had a kid. We had a, we had a dog. So we got a little bit of a jump start on taking care of some type of creature. And we loved that dog. I didn't like that dog. You've been here long enough, you've heard enough stories about that dog. That dog was the worst. But we loved it, took care of it. And then like lady and the Tramp, that story that plays out over and over again, we had a child and that child, like when you first hold your child in the hospital or if you adopt a child and the agency places that child with you either, and you're in the room with that child for the first time, like there's just something that happens within you. External force just comes in and it just, you, you thought you, you, you knew this category of love and that just gets deepened in ways that are just so profound and wonderful. And when I held my daughter for the first time, it was just powerful. Then went home and I saw that dog and I was like, I hate you. Like, I love, I love this child so much. With the Love that I had this child. I just is a disdain by comparison. But there's just something happens. There's external forces that work in you. That's not just limited to children. Sometimes experiences happen to you and it changes you. And none of those hold, hold a. Hold a flame to. When the Lord determines to work in our lives in powerful ways, the external force of who our Lord is is working in our hearts. It changes us in ways that are profound. And that's what this prayer is today. It's capturing that. It's a prayer for God to. To work powerfully within us. So we're going to see this prayer and see the encouragement that comes with a prayer like this and then also see the fruit that comes from these types of prayers. So let me pray for us and then we'll walk through this piece by piece.Heavenly Father, I thank you that you do work in mighty ways. And I pray that this would be a morning in which you do that you would work in our inner being, in our hearts, in profound ways that help us not just hear your word, but do it. But that comes not from ourselves. It comes from you. And we ask that you do that in Jesus name. Amen.All right, so this prayer begins in the middle of. Towards the end of chapter three with for this reason. Okay, we're going to stop there. So this happens in Ephesians. You see this phrase for this reason over and over again. And what's happening is that Paul is drawing to mind what he said previously. He's building on truth that he's already established for this reason. And we saw this a little bit in week one. Chet, in week one of this series went to a prayer in Ephesians chapter one. And that was built upon the truth that came before that, which is the first few verses of Ephesians is this. This declaration of how God plans to redeem his people, that he chooses us and he redeems his people. And then Chet walked us through this prayer of wanting to know God and experience his glory in profound ways. Then when you get to chapter two, those first 10 verses one through 10 and chapter two are some of the most, I would argue, one of the most important passages in all the Scriptures. It is a beautiful summary of the gospel. That we were once dead in sin. We were sons of disobedience, children of disobedience, that we were wayward and that God, in his mercy, he saves us by grace through faith, not of our own doing. So if you're looking to grow in some scripture memory this year, and you have no place to start. I can't think of a better place to start than that passage right there. Builds upon that talks about how Jews and Gentiles are both a part of the same household of God, of how God dwells in his church. So really, for this reason, builds upon the gospel that he's articulated with such beauty and specificity. And those first three chapters, because the gospel is good news.> For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,> from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,> that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,> so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,> may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,> and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.> Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,> to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. Stop there. As I bow my knees, which just for a moment, we should consider our posture when we pray. Now, I'm not being dogmatic on this. I'm not saying that every time you pray you have to bow on your faith, bow on your knees, that every time you pray you need to be on your face before the Lord. I think you can drive and pray. I think you can sit in a chair and pray. But if the only posture by which we pray is a comfortable posture, I think we're missing something. In prayer, there's something about the physical body and how God has made us in the position of bowing before the Father, laying prostrate on your face before the Father. And if that's not an aspect of your prayer life, it should be because it brings humility within us. There's a physical humility displayed when we bow before the Father in prayer. That's what he's doing here. I bow before the Father, which also should be noted. This prayer is very trinitarian in its language, very explicitly. So going to see Father, Son and Holy Spirit in this prayer. And as most prayer in the New Testament that we see, all the prayers that we see written, some of the teachings that we see on prayer, normative patterns of prayer are to the Father, but we also think of our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So this begins with I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth is named. Throughout every family, every creature comes from, from his creation that we're named, that God's sovereignty and all of this is implied here.And then we have verses 16 through 19, which is very dense, very rich, and it is a lot. So we got to kind of take it component by component. Because Paul's breaking down one kind of overarching truth for us piece by piece. My wife and I, we were trying to teach our kids some life skills and try to teach them to make a sandwich. You could just say, get on in there and make it. Make yourself a PB and J. It's like, no, it's like, this is how it works. Step one, get the bread out. Step two, get the jar of peanut butter. Put the knife in the jar, get the peanut butter out, smear it over this one piece, then take the a paper towel and wipe that peanut butter off. Because only psychopaths put that straight in the jelly. You know who you are. Leaving peanut butter remnants in the jelly like a. And then get the jelly smear in the bread, and then we piece it together and then you've got the sandwich. Right? So Paul's component by component here, there's one overarching sandwich, one big truth he's trying to give us, but he's got to break this down. So we're going to have to take this piece by piece to see what he's getting at here.In this prayer, he says that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being. Okay, sit there. That first part, according to the riches of his glory, Chet helped us see in week one of this. He was quoting Herman Babnik, a theologian from a century ago, and describing glory and defining it. He said, the glory of God is the infinite, indescribable perfection and beauty of all the other attributes that all the good and wonderful attributes of God, his goodness, his faithfulness, his power, his might, and on and on, shine brightly in a way that displays glory. And he says, according to the riches of that glory, this indescribable, infinite, marvelous glory says, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with the power through his spirit in your inner being, to be strengthened with the power of spirit through his spirit, the Holy Spirit in your inner being. Okay, let's pause there for a moment.There is an American lie that is told repeatedly over and over again that if you look inside yourself, inherit to who you are, you'll discover power, you'll discover greatness. And that greatness will help you win and overcome and be great. And y', all, that story is told over and over again, from Moana looking inside herself to, I mean, most recently, Stranger Things, the stories that we tell over and over again. There's something inherent inside of you that you just got to tap into. To overcome, to do great gets told over and over and over again. And that sometimes actually even funnels into some American churches, not even the majority, but some of them, certainly some with big platforms, and there are even some pastors, at least those who claim to be, that will parrot that lie. Over and over again. There's something you just gotta tap into. The power that's deep, that's wonderful within you. But that's not what the gospel teaches at all. It's not what the gospel teaches. The gospel teaches that if you look deep inside yourself, what you will discover is frailty, weakness, sin, brokenness, depravity. That's what's inherent in each of us. And that's what makes the gospel such good news. That's why that's wonderful that it's not in ourselves to arrive at greatness. It's on ourselves to overcome that. It comes from God working within us, the external power of God coming to work inside of us in powerful ways. May he strengthen by the power through his spirit in your inner being. This power comes from God.In verse 17, he says, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through. Through faith. That Jesus Christ and faith in him brings the power of God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, to dwell richly in his people. And then he continues. That you, being rooted and grounded in love. Here we go. May have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and. And height and depth. And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God, goodness. When I was a kid, we got to go to the Grand Canyon. My stepdad and I, we went. And I remember getting out of the car, walking through this clearing and seeing the Grand Canyon and having a very normal experience that many people have when they see the Grand Canyon. You just feel small. Now, the reasons that you feel small, because the Grand Canyon is massive. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long. It is 4 to 18 miles wide. various points. It is over a mile deep. Totals at 1,904 square miles. You could take the entire state of Rhode island and put it in the Grand Canyon. I want to help you picture this for a moment. You may not find this helpful. I found this helpful and I'm talking. So theoretically, if you filled up the Grand Canyon with water, okay, it would take 4.17 quadrillion liters of water to fill the Grand Canyon. Now, if you're like me and you failed math as a kid, you might ask, what's a quadrillion? Had that same question. Quadrillion is 1 million billions, right? Take a billion. Now you have a million of those billions. And now you have a quadrillion four of them. That's how many liters of water it takes to fill the Grand Canyon. Now stay with Me further, the average adult human being, the capacity and the adult human being is about 42 liters. So if you were to take a human and fill it up with water. 42 liters. Okay. I in the eighth grade, well after my second eighth grade because I failed math. Stay with me. After my second eighth grade when I was there witnessing how big the Grand Canyon was, I was very small, very had not broken £100 yet. So half an adult human being. So think 20 liters capacity human being beholding 4.17 quadrillion capacity Grand Canyon. That's why I felt small. That's why anyone feels small. You might be. That's the most crazy confusing way to explain how to behold the Grand Canyon. I could keep going. I could tell you that if you took all the people in the world and put them in the Grand Canyon you wouldn't come close to filling it up. But it takes 60 to 70 trillion trillion human beings to fill up the Grand Canyon. I could do this with all kinds of things. With AI, I can do jello, I can do VW beetles, I can go all day pounds of sand. And every time I try to explain to you how big the Grand Canyon is by our understanding, you still can't grasp it because you can't understand 4.17 quadrillion liters of Wallers. Even if I switch it to gallons, which would be more helpful, I couldn't understand that. 67 trillion people. There's no quite way we could possibly picture and understand how big the Grand Canyon is. And when we in ourselves try to understand the bigness of the God who made that Grand Canyon, who holds that in the palm of his hand like it's nothing, the scale of comparison doesn't work. To try to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth of and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. It's not an 8th grade kid trying to stack up against the Grand Canyon. We don't have categories for that. The discrepancy between us and the size and the majesty and the wonder and the glory and the weight of glory of who our God is, is infinite. Yet God and his graciousness, this is what he does. Knowing that we and ourselves have no ability to begin to comprehend how great and how wide and how wonderful the love of his love of God. Him understanding this, He Himself dwells in us. He goes to work in our inner being to strengthen us, to empower us so that we can begin to understand the infinite capacity of love. That God has for us. That's. I mean, that's more than having your first child and having this love grow and understanding of what really love is, it's much, much, much, much, much bigger than that. When God goes to work in us to give us eyes to see and understand just the beginning of how great his love is. That's why, y'. All. I don't. When people who don't believe in Jesus and are skeptical when they take shots at the character of God. Your God is loving. Let me tell you how your God's not loving. Your God is not righteous. Not just. Let me tell you why your God isn't just. This is why. I don't. I don't get all offended. I'm not. Of course you would not begin to. How possibly could you begin to understand the depths and the riches of the love of God if He's not working in you to help you understand that in the first place? You have no capacity to understand how great he is. You have capacity to understand his great love. You have no capacity to understand his justice. You have no capacity to understand the riches of his glory and his majesty and his wonder and his all. So of course you would not get this. But when the Spirit goes to work in us and begins to open up our eyes to see and we. We begin to. To start to grasp how. How grotesque our sin is and how wretched our rebellion is against God and how we just joyfully choose sin over him repeatedly, over and over and over and over and over and over again to the point of ad nauseam. When we begin to understand with new spiritual eyes to understand how much our sin is heinous against a holy and perfect God who made us. Once we start to understand that, we can begin to partially understand how rich his love is that he would not injustice bring down his full wrath upon us. But he would send His Son to be crushed for us. He would send His Son to be crucified for us. He would send His Son to take the place that we deserve in judgment. And the more you stare at the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, you begin to see how deep his love is. You cannot discover God without Him first working in you. You cannot know him without him first working in you. You cannot understand his glory, his goodness, or any aspect. And especially you cannot understand his love without him first working in us. We need God to work in us. That's why Paul's praying this. That's why he's praying this over them, because they're not going to reason their way to this. They're not going to logic their way to this. No, they need God. He's praying. May God work in your inner being to see this and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.And here's the sandwich, y'. All. Here's where it all comes in. That you may be filled with all the fullness of God. It all leads into that. He's praying you don't have it in you, but may God work in you, strengthen you, work in your inner being, so you might understand the depths of. Of the love of God, that the fullness of God may dwell in you. He's praying the fullness of God may dwell in you. Which begs the question, what is that? What is the fullness of God? I can both tell you what that is and can also admit I don't fully understand what that means. I can tell you biblically what that means. Biblically, it means that God dwells in you and his glorious attributes begin to work through you in mighty wonderful ways that display who he is. That's what that means. But how to fully understand that? I don't know. I don't know how you pictured that. I mean, you can tap a 4.17 quadrillion liter water tank and take your eighth grader and say, get to drinking, but I don't. So how do. How do you understand the fullness of God? And as I thought through this, the best way that my finite mind could try to picture this is that if you have a light bulb on a dimmer switch that you can slowly turn up, which I do in my. In my dining room, I've got this dimmer switch and turn it on, and I still have the Edison bulbs that haven't got out of stock yet. And you can turn it up a little bit and then you'll see the. The inner components of the light begin to light up. Light bulb begin to light up. But if you have a powerful enough light switch and enough light source, the more that you turn up that switch, the less you're going to see of the components of that light bulb. And eventually, if you turn up a light bulb to its maximum capacity, that you're not going to be able to see anything but light itself, you're not going to be able to see the inner workings of this at all, that the only observable substance will be light. And the best I can picture of what the fullness of God is is that God and His glory and the perfection of his attributes dwell so richly in his people that the only observable reality is God himself. And that's a beautiful thing to pray for that when people see you, the only observable reality that shines through you is the fullness of God. And that is a glorious thing to pray for. As he prays this on behalf of this Ephesian church. And you can't reason your way to that reality. You can't discover that our only hope is praying for it is praying for God to work in us in mighty wonderful ways. That at the fullness of God, God and all of his glory and his bright shining love working in us would just be the only observable thing about you.So that reality makes this final part of the prayer that we're about to read so beautiful. Because that's true now.To him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think according to the power at work within us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen, man. The end of this prayer is an opportunity to dream, to dream a bit. Any all ever dream about winning the lottery? I know a Baptist would never do that. I think most of you have. I've dreamed about it and all the silly material things that you could purchase if I won the lottery. Now let's just disclaimer. I don't buy lottery tickets because I'm a Baptist. I really don't. Let's put that aside. If I won the lottery right now, there's no limit on money. There are some material things that my heart would go after. No doubt. Probably not the same as you, but I would try to find. There are some big land tracks between like Cayce Lexington. So if you took Cayce Lexington, Red Bank. There's an area right there where there's still some big old land tracks. It's getting developed, but not all. And I scoop up one of those land tracks, 100 acres. And then I put a giant fence, we're talking like 20 foot fence all the way around it. And then I'd stock it with as many deer as possible. Just load it up. It'd be a reserve. I wouldn't be selfish. I'd invite some of you. Some of you that don't shoot things you shouldn't shoot. You know who I'm talking about. Some of you know how I'm talking about. This isn't pointing anybody specifically. It just annoys me when people shoot smaller bucks. But that's not the point of this dream. If I I would. I would get this big land track and then I build pretty much the same size house I have now, a little nicer and there'd be a pond because my son has gotten into fishing. We stock it with fish and we just invite people to this to be. So we just have people coming over enjoying it. And I'm sure you've done some version of that, probably different. I don't think your lottery dreams are based in that area of town. But we've done this if we're honest, many of us. And what makes some of those dreams about things that do not matter at all, that have no really tangible, eternal significance, the reason you could do that is because money is the limit, right? That's the point of those lottery dreams, is that money is the limit. And if you didn't have money, here are the things you could really do. But it's all about things that don't matter. It's all about things that don't last. It's all about things that will be here and gone.When is the last time we took that type of creativity and dreaming about things that do matter, things that have eternal significance, that if there were no limits and God was at work in us in mighty wonderful ways, beginning to help us comprehend the limitless love of God and the fullness of him dwelling in us in rich and powerful ways. If that's true, then man, what are the things that we could be dreaming about that we could pray for now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think? And I want you to dream for a bit about things that actually have significance. If God and His infinite power is at work within us, what are the things that we should be praying for, things we should be dreaming about? I want to give you some categories. Last week we talked about holiness. We talked about. We read a prayer of sanctification, of us becoming more like Christ by repenting of sin and obeying him. And the hope is, is that you didn't just hear that, but you responded to be a doer of the word. And this week at group, you began to talk about sin and not in shallow ways, but in real ways. That's my hope. And if you haven't done it yet, please do. But what if in this past week you started to take sin really seriously and then leaving today, you started to pray big prayers of just like God, this area of my life that I so deeply want you to change, this sin that just keeps plaguing me, God, would you so remove its Influence in my life that a year from now, just walking with you and all of a sudden temptation comes and I'm like, neo from the Matrix, just. And you're just. No, it's just an annoyance. I'm just. Would you work so powerfully within me that I wouldn't feel the destructive influence of the sin? I just have so much fullness of you dwelling within me. That's a thing to pray for.Let's talk about reconciliation as a category. Some of you have relationships with people that have been marred by the effects of sin. And maybe you're not talking to them anymore. Maybe there is relational weirdness. And it just. Every time you see them, it just. You. Every time you see something online, you just. What if you started praying in a way to our limitless God that he would work in a mighty way in you and in them, so that when you saw them, all you felt was actually love, the love of God. That brightness just shines through you in a way. It's like I. I just love that person so much because he can. He can work in mighty ways.Give you a different category, personal evangelism. Some of y' all have that lost coworker or that friend that you've been building with for quite some time. What if you began to pray with dream and imagination? God? Would you. Would you use me to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ to this person? Would you save them? And what if God, in a few months, orchestrated you and her? Or you and him standing right in front of me in a pool baptizing them, celebrating that Jesus saved them, and then you disciple them? You say, come, follow me as I follow Christ. Here's how you study the Word. Here's how you pray. Here's how you live in community. Follow me as I follow Christ. And then in a few years, they're actually a group leader. Because you prayed for boldness and zeal, the death of apathy and self interest, and God worked in you and you declared the gospel of Jesus Christ.Give you another category about planting a church. It's about time we did that. It's about time we planted a church. What if 50 of you weren't in this room a few years from now? What if you, because God, working in your inner being, gave you faith to take a step of obedience and go and take the gospel somewhere else? I'll give you one couple more categories. What if some of you considered the call to ministry, serving the local church? What if some of you prayed some dangerous prayers and God began to work in your inner being in wonderful, mighty ways. And you said, I, I'll make less money. I'll serve the church, I'll be obedient. And for, for the men in this room, some of you, that means considering the call to be a pastor and, and aspiring to the office of overseer and desiring that noble task 1 Timothy 3:1, in a way that you would give your life away to loving and shepherding and leading and preaching God's people. And I'll give you one last category to dream on. What if some of you became international missionaries, you began to pray those kind of dangerous prayers that when you think about it, you want to put it to the side because you don't want to go there. But God began to work in you and broke your heart for a people group that doesn't know the gospel, for a country that needs solid theological enrichment in the local churches. And you, in a few years packed up your bags and sold everything and you left. And you're obedient to the call to go, to make disciples of all the nations. Those are the things worth dreaming about and those are the things worth praying for.Now, to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen, y'. All. He's able. He's able to do more than we could ever dream or imagine. Why aren't we praying? The type of dangerous, wonderful, glorious Christ exalting prayers that make us uncomfortable. We have access to limitless power to go to work in us, to do unimaginable work that he set apart for us. And the question is, is what are we waiting for? I think some of us are holding back. I think even as we think in those type of categories for a moment, there's already the counter that said, I just, I don't know, I'm not ready. I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. That seems scary. What if I fail? What if it doesn't work? What if? What if? What if? What if? And I want to tell you, you let God be the limit on what he's going to do in you and through you and get out of the way. We pray and we dream like this because of where this ultimately ends. Because to him belongs all glory and the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. This ends in doxology. This ends in glorious praise to Him. Did we get to experience him in indescribable ways that we would get to be used by him to do unimaginable things to Him. Be the glory forever and ever. Amen.Brothers and sisters, God wants to strengthen us, to help us comprehend the depths of his love in profound, wonderful ways. And as we experience his love in infinite, wonderful ways, we'd be obedient to the things that he calls us to with no limit style Dreaming it's time for us to pray for the fullness of God to dwell in us. It's time to start praying bold, audacious, big dream prayers. And that's what we're going to do for the next few minutes. Daniel's going to come up here and he's just going to play and we're going to sit and we're going to pray and we're going to pray for two things. We're first going to pray for God and His fullness to dwell in us that would shine so brightly that when people see us, they see Christ. And the second thing we're going to pray for is going to pray for God to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. And we get to dream a little bit and we get to be dangerous a little bit. And we get to be silent for a little bit. And we get to let the Lord go to work in our hearts. So that's what we're going to do. For a few minutes we're going to sit in silence and then I will close this in prayer. But let me, let me make this clear. Some of you need to encounter, maybe for the first time, this power of God. Some of you. This won't make sense until God first begins a work in you, which means some of you need to place your full faith in Jesus that you've been putting faith in other things yourself. And now is the time for you to actually respond to the lordship of God so that he might begin to dwell in you fully. And I would encourage you to do that as well. But we're going to sit for a few minutes. Maybe you need to get a posture of prayer. Maybe you need to be open handed a little bit. Maybe you need to get on your knees. We don't have a traditional altar, but you might need to come up here, you might need to stand up and walk out, but prepare yourself to be in a posture of prayer. And for a few minutes we're going to sit in silence and we're going to pray for the fullness of God to dwell richly in us in mighty ways. And then we're going to pray for God to do far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think. Let's pray.Lord, we pray that we'd be filled with the fullness of you, God. May you work in our inner being that we might be begin to comprehend how profound and wonderful our love is and a world way that you would dwell so richly within us and shine so brightly through us. Oh lord, would you fill us, God, to you who are able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. God, would you remove the limits that we place on you in our lives? Would you make us uncomfortable? Would you give us faith? God, we ask for faith to pray like this. May you work mightily in us to do the things that you desire for us. To you be glory and your church and our Savior Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.We're going to stand, we're going to praise our glorious God and we're going to worship.

Hi, I'm John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you're listening to Share Life Today. There are moments in life when it's hard to see what God is doing. Circumstances may feel uncertain, and the future may seem unclear. Yet God speaks words of hope to His people in Isaiah 43:19, saying, “See, I am doing a new thing; now it springs up, do you not perceive it?” Even when we don't recognize it, God is actively at work, bringing renewal and purpose. The new thing God is doing in us is all because of Jesus. Through His death on the cross, our sins are forgiven, and new life is made possible. When we place our trust in Christ, God begins a work in us that transforms our hearts and gives us lasting hope for today and eternity. God never intended this hope to stop with us. He calls us to share the Good News with those around us who are searching for meaning and peace. For help in sharing your faith, visit our website at sharelife.today. That's sharelife.today.

In this powerful episode of We're Talkin' About with Kaley Gray, my guest Melia Chapman joins us for a deep, heartfelt conversation about what it truly means to be planted, grown, and ultimately restored by God. We explore the honest tension of being placed in seasons that feel dark, disappointing, or confusing. Even during times when it seems like we've been buried, but what if we've actually been planted instead? Melia unpacks the analogy of soil, growth, and spiritual formation in a way that is both relatable and refreshing. Together, we talk about those seasons when your roots feel stuck in cement: hard, unmovable, and far from the rich, black soil you wish you were planted in. Yet even when the ground beneath your feet feels undesirable, Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God is intentional with our placement. Everything you need to flourish has already been placed inside you, and even in unexpected soil, you can encounter God in ways you never imagined.We dive into:• Purpose in your placement. How God uses difficult soil, hard transitions, and stretching seasons to refine you, deepen your roots, and prepare you for greater.• Practical pictures of where we go to satisfy our deepest desires and how the “nutrients” we choose shape our growth.• The power of the voice you listen to and the reality of how that voice you believe will determine the future you experience.• Why undesirable soil can actually be the very ground God intends for you to flourish in even when you don't understand it at the time.Melia reminds us to pay attention to who is holding the watering can in our lives, because the enemy loves planting weeds of busyness, comparison, and confusion. Yet God, the Master Gardener, desires to till the soil of our hearts, soften what's become hardened, and bring a 100-fold return that only He can produce.If you're longing for clarity, growth, or a fresh sense of purpose in your season, this episode will encourage you to trust God with where you're planted and to believe that He wastes nothing in your becoming.Connect with Melia: https://www.facebook.com/melia.chapmanOrder a copy of Rooted and Restored: https://a.co/d/3nH4ZXOConnect with Kaley:⁠https://www.instagram.com/kaleyagray/⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MissKaleyGray/ ⁠Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQHkLMwvU32yvNbXhRCjgmQ⁠*I do not own rights to this music.#RootedandRestored #christiangrowth #christianencouragement

Episode 878: It's Wonderful to Belong to the Lord! Your redemption is so costly that no human could do it! Yet God did what man could not do–He sent Jesus! Discover what it truly means to be redeemed by Jesus on this episode of Good News with Greg Fritz! Download or request your FREE Study Notes for this series at https://gregfritz.org/study-notes/. Greg Fritz is on a mission to get the truth of the Good News to as many people as possible. The truth is God has a plan and a meaning for your life. You are extravagantly and deeply loved by God, and you were created for a purpose.  Receive a free CD and our newsletter: https://www.gregfritz.org/free-cd/   Follow Greg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregfritzministries/  Follow Greg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregfritzministries/ Watch more videos: https://www.gospeltruth.tv/   Learn more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrR9Rsx4h_RqYigda2PysZQ  Email us: info@gregfritz.org  Partner with us:  https://gregfritz.org/partners/ Donate: https://gregfritz.org/donate/

This week's sermon continued our series on The House God is Building, focusing on the radical call of Romans 12:1-2 to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. Paul reminds us that God is not building His house out of inspiration, good intentions, or spiritual emotions—but out of actual, embodied lives. In response to God's mercy, we are invited to offer our entire selves: our habits, our time, our routines, our struggles, our comforts—everything that makes us who we are. This isn't a call to religious performance but a response of gratitude to the God who gave His body for us. The phrase "living sacrifice" is intentionally paradoxical—because unlike dead sacrifices, living ones can crawl off the altar. Yet God calls us to stay surrendered, not through white-knuckled willpower, but through the renewing work of the Holy Spirit who transforms us from the inside out. Christianity is stubbornly physical: God saved the world with a body, and He's building His house with ours.Support the show

The story of Jericho isn't just an ancient tale of walls falling down—it's a powerful mirror reflecting the seemingly impossible obstacles we face today. When we examine Joshua 6, we discover that the Israelites stood before the most fortified city of their time, a military stronghold that defied every conventional strategy. Yet God's plan was radically different: march, blow trumpets, shout, and watch the walls collapse. This wasn't random or theatrical—it was purposeful. God chose Jericho specifically because it required complete dependence on Him. Archaeological evidence confirms the walls fell outward, not inward as would happen in a typical siege, validating the miraculous nature of this conquest. What makes this relevant to us is recognizing our own Jerichos—fear, addiction, broken relationships, the constant pull of technology, unhealthy patterns we can't seem to break. The message challenges us to ask: Are we approaching our strongholds with God's wisdom or the world's methods? Are we truly listening when we pray, or just presenting our wish list? The Israelites' obedience, even when the plan seemed absurd, became the key to their victory. When we surrender our need for control and trust God's purposeful plan over our own logic, we position ourselves to witness the impossible become possible in our lives.

In John 7:40-52, we examine the profound division Jesus creates among those who encounter Him. The crowds at the Feast of Booths are split: some declare Him the Prophet, others the Christ, while many reject Him based on superficial knowledge and unexamined assumptions. Even the officers sent to arrest Him return empty-handed, confessing, "No one ever spoke like this man!" The religious leaders' contemptuous response reveals the tragic reality: our sinful nature compels us to deny Christ. Despite their biblical knowledge, the Pharisees exemplify how pride and unregenerate hearts blind us to truth. Yet God's sovereign grace alone can overcome this natural hostility. Do you truly know Jesus or merely assume you do? Through genuine study of Scripture and Spirit-wrought faith, we receive Christ and rest upon Him alone for salvation. In a world still divided over Jesus, only divine intervention can transform hearts of stone into hearts that embrace the Savior who speaks like no other. Listen in today and be challenged by God's word.

In our 2nd week of Fighting to Win, Pastor Leonard unpacks Deuteronomy 6 in his message titled: "Fighting To Win".  to show that God's goodness is lavish and undeserved, leading His people into abundance they did not earn. Yet God's promises are often met with resistance, reminding us that winning requires a fight—naming our resistance, staying focused, and responding to God's goodness with intentional faith. Use the Sermon Reflection Guide linked below to go deeper and reflect on how God is inviting you to fight for what He has promised.   All I Do Is Win Week 2 Fighting To Win sermon reflection guide.

Your physical health is important to you and to God. God created you, and He wants the best for you. It is our responsibility to take care of our bodies. We have an enemy that wants to make it all about vanity. We obsess over how we look. Yet God made us in His image, and He wants us to be physically healthy so we can reach our full potential in knowing and serving Him. Our motivation for physical health is so that we can serve God longer and stronger. Let's commit to taking one step toward physical health in 2026, so we can truly live our lives to the full.

Your physical health is important to you and to God. God created you, and He wants the best for you. It is our responsibility to take care of our bodies. We have an enemy that wants to make it all about vanity. We obsess over how we look. Yet God made us in His image, and He wants us to be physically healthy so we can reach our full potential in knowing and serving Him. Our motivation for physical health is so that we can serve God longer and stronger. Let's commit to taking one step toward physical health in 2026, so we can truly live our lives to the full.

Thursday January 8, 2026Epiphany Today's readings draw our attention to God's provision, Christ's supremacy, and the invitation to come and receive true life.In Exodus 17:1–7, Israel finds itself thirsty in the wilderness, grumbling and afraid. Yet God meets their testing with mercy, bringing water from the rock and proving once again that He is present even when His people doubt. The place of complaint becomes a place of provision.In Colossians 1:15–23, Paul proclaims the supremacy of Christ—the image of the invisible God, the One through whom all things were created and the One who reconciles all things through the cross. Our hope is secured not by circumstances, but by remaining grounded in Him.And in John 7:37–52, Jesus stands and cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” He offers living water to all who seek him.

Todaywe're going back to Ephesians chapter 4, looking at the section toward the endof the chapter where the Apostle Paul instructs us to put off the old man andput on the new man. He tells us that we can be renewed in the spirit of ourminds, and then clothe ourselves in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Christ'slife is now in us. We no longer live for ourselves, but Christ lives in us. Heproduces the fruit of the Spirit within us, and as a result, we experiencelove, joy, and peace instead of anger, malice, and bitterness. That's what Pauladdresses at the end of this chapter. Paulgives us five sins that we are to put off. Back in verse 25, the first sin hementions is lying. At the root of all lies is the devil himself—he is thefather of lies (John 8:44). He plants the thought in our minds to deceiveothers so that we might look better in their eyes. Paul's instruction is clear:put off lying and speak the truth, each one with his neighbor. Thenin verse 26, Paul addresses the second issue: “Be angry, and do not sin.”Now that's interesting. He doesn't say, “Put off anger,” the way hesays, “Put off lying.” Instead, he says, “Be angry, and do not sin.” At first,that sounds like a strange encouragement—especially since so many peoplealready struggle with anger. But God has created us as emotional beings. GodHimself is an emotional God. He has feelings, and He created us with feelingsso that we can experience love, joy, peace, contentment, satisfaction, andsecurity. These are good emotions. However,there are other emotions—like anger, fear, worry, malice, and hatred—that arenot good emotions. Yet God allows us to experience them. Why? Because they actlike a warning bell, an alarm that tells us something isn't right. They alertus that we may be viewing a situation incorrectly or that something needs to beaddressed.  Sois it possible to be angry and not sin? Yes, it is. In itself, anger is not asin. Scripture tells us that God gets angry. We see this in Deuteronomy 9:8 and20, Psalm 2:12. We also see thisillustrated in the life of Jesus when He was angry in the temple, driving outthose who were greedily selling merchandise and exploiting God's people who hadcome to worship and offer sacrifices. Wemust make the choice about what we will do with the anger we feel. Anger isoften compared in Scripture to fire—it is said to “being kindled” (Genesis30:2; Deuteronomy 6:15). It can flare up when someone says something thatwounds us or when something displeases us deeply. At that moment, we have achoice. Will we allow that anger to smolder within us and turn into malice—anintent to hurt or seek vengeance—or will we allow God to transform it intosomething good? Angeris a burst of emotional energy. We can used that energy to attack a person orproperty, or we can use it to attack the problem. That energy can be used toharm and damage others, or it can be used to drive us to God. We can pray,“Lord, help me understand what You are teaching me through this anger. Help mesee this situation through Your eyes.” We don't see the way God sees. Godjudges perfectly and deals justly with every situation. We don't. And that'swhy anger can easily lead us into sin if we're not careful. Paulthen gives us practical wisdom: “do not let the sun go down on your wrath”.While we're feeling that anger, we are to go to God. We are to go to bed harboringand feeding that feeling of anger. Instead we ask God to forgive us for oursins, and then we ask Him to help us forgive those who have hurt us. Otherwise,anger will grow into bitterness. Paul warns us about this later in verse 31,where he says: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speakingbe put away from you, with all malice.” Maythe Lord help us listen carefully to this instruction from Paul—not allowinganger to control our lives or lead us into sin, but instead, let it drive us toGod for the grace we need to respond rightly.

We cannot escape death, regardless of our social status. We cannot buy our way out of the final decree of life – that death is our physical destiny. Yet… God opened a way for us to live – to escape the totality of being dead forever by sacrificing His own life on our behalf. The result is life beyond the grave. God has redeemed us so we can move from grace to grace, and be transformed from the physical realm to the eternal one. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil ReaserAnd please check out our other podcast, Lamplight, featuring insightful messages and conversations from real people pursuing hope and change. Lamplight is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, or you can find it here: https://anchor.fm/pod/show/cfo-north-america

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251231dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Matthew 2:16 The Comfort of Christmas Herod, furious that the Magi left without telling him where Jesus was, went scorched earth and ordered every boy in the vicinity two years old and younger to be killed. Historians estimate that twenty to thirty children were murdered in his desperate attempt to eliminate the Christ child. It is uncomfortable to read this so soon after Christmas. Wouldn’t it be better to skip this part? Why remember such horror during Christmastime? Because it shows what happens when light enters a world of darkness. When the light arrives, the darkness does not politely step aside. It tries to snuff the light out. This is why Jesus came: to battle the darkness that rejected him from his very first days. This same battle between light and darkness continues in your own heart. When Christ’s light shines within you, your sinful nature fights against it. Yet God remains on your side—God rescued his Son from Herod’s sword so that his Son could rescue you from eternal darkness. Jesus’ death and resurrection became the ultimate light that conquers the darkness. And here lies one of the Bible’s hardest truths: though God possesses all power and hates evil, he still permits suffering. So here is the comfort of Christmas: God may save us from evil, or he may save us through evil. The boys of Bethlehem died tragically, but Christ the Savior was born not to save them from Herod, but from hell, and that is what he did. With God, wherever there is weeping, comfort follows. The grieving mothers of Bethlehem would see their sons again because their King came to save them through tragedy into heaven’s triumph. This is the comfort of Christmas. That even though the darkness could take the boys of Bethlehem away from their parents, it could not take them away from Christ. It cannot take you away from him either. Prayer: Merciful Father, thank you for the comfort of knowing that no darkness can separate me from the light of your Son. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251231dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Matthew 2:16 The Comfort of Christmas Herod, furious that the Magi left without telling him where Jesus was, went scorched earth and ordered every boy in the vicinity two years old and younger to be killed. Historians estimate that twenty to thirty children were murdered in his desperate attempt to eliminate the Christ child. It is uncomfortable to read this so soon after Christmas. Wouldn’t it be better to skip this part? Why remember such horror during Christmastime? Because it shows what happens when light enters a world of darkness. When the light arrives, the darkness does not politely step aside. It tries to snuff the light out. This is why Jesus came: to battle the darkness that rejected him from his very first days. This same battle between light and darkness continues in your own heart. When Christ’s light shines within you, your sinful nature fights against it. Yet God remains on your side—God rescued his Son from Herod’s sword so that his Son could rescue you from eternal darkness. Jesus’ death and resurrection became the ultimate light that conquers the darkness. And here lies one of the Bible’s hardest truths: though God possesses all power and hates evil, he still permits suffering. So here is the comfort of Christmas: God may save us from evil, or he may save us through evil. The boys of Bethlehem died tragically, but Christ the Savior was born not to save them from Herod, but from hell, and that is what he did. With God, wherever there is weeping, comfort follows. The grieving mothers of Bethlehem would see their sons again because their King came to save them through tragedy into heaven’s triumph. This is the comfort of Christmas. That even though the darkness could take the boys of Bethlehem away from their parents, it could not take them away from Christ. It cannot take you away from him either. Prayer: Merciful Father, thank you for the comfort of knowing that no darkness can separate me from the light of your Son. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251230dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:14-15 Out of Egypt The words in our Bible reading today show that even as a baby, Jesus was already fulfilling prophecy and establishing his credentials as the promised Savior. When King Herod sought to murder the Christ child, God sent the holy family fleeing to Egypt. Seven hundred years earlier, Hosea had foretold that God’s Son would go there and return—and now Jesus, cradled in his mother’s arms, was living out that prophecy. To understand this fulfillment, though, we must recall Israel’s story. Over three thousand years ago, God adopted a nation of slaves and called them his son. He brought Israel out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and gave them a new home in Canaan. But Israel did not always return their Father’s love. The people he rescued turned to false gods and sacrificed to idols. Through prophets like Hosea, God warned his disobedient children what would happen if they refused to repent. They deserved punishment for their idolatry. Yet God could not stop loving his son. That is the backdrop for Matthew’s quotation. Jesus is the perfectly obedient Son of God—so fully identifying with God’s people that his life mirrors theirs. As Israel once went down to Egypt, so he went down to Egypt. As Israel was called out, so he was called out. Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeded; where Israel rebelled, Jesus obeyed. And he obeyed for you! When the time had fully come, God sent his beloved Son to be born in Bethlehem, to live as the obedient child you were meant to be, to die on the cross, and to rise again so you could be brought into God’s family. He loved you so much that he poured out his Spirit into your heart so you can cry, “Father!” and know that the Almighty delights to hear you, protect you, bless you, and save you. Even though you have been a rebellious child, God’s grace is greater than your guilt. His love at the manger and the cross is more than enough to bring peace on earth and good will to men. Prayer: Father, thank you for fulfilling your Word by calling your Son out of Egypt, so that I am your own dear child. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20251230dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:14-15 Out of Egypt The words in our Bible reading today show that even as a baby, Jesus was already fulfilling prophecy and establishing his credentials as the promised Savior. When King Herod sought to murder the Christ child, God sent the holy family fleeing to Egypt. Seven hundred years earlier, Hosea had foretold that God’s Son would go there and return—and now Jesus, cradled in his mother’s arms, was living out that prophecy. To understand this fulfillment, though, we must recall Israel’s story. Over three thousand years ago, God adopted a nation of slaves and called them his son. He brought Israel out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and gave them a new home in Canaan. But Israel did not always return their Father’s love. The people he rescued turned to false gods and sacrificed to idols. Through prophets like Hosea, God warned his disobedient children what would happen if they refused to repent. They deserved punishment for their idolatry. Yet God could not stop loving his son. That is the backdrop for Matthew’s quotation. Jesus is the perfectly obedient Son of God—so fully identifying with God’s people that his life mirrors theirs. As Israel once went down to Egypt, so he went down to Egypt. As Israel was called out, so he was called out. Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeded; where Israel rebelled, Jesus obeyed. And he obeyed for you! When the time had fully come, God sent his beloved Son to be born in Bethlehem, to live as the obedient child you were meant to be, to die on the cross, and to rise again so you could be brought into God’s family. He loved you so much that he poured out his Spirit into your heart so you can cry, “Father!” and know that the Almighty delights to hear you, protect you, bless you, and save you. Even though you have been a rebellious child, God’s grace is greater than your guilt. His love at the manger and the cross is more than enough to bring peace on earth and good will to men. Prayer: Father, thank you for fulfilling your Word by calling your Son out of Egypt, so that I am your own dear child. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Romans 9:14-18 — What is the great mystery of salvation? According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in this sermon on Romans 9:14–18 titled “God's Mercy,” it is not why every sinner is not saved, but why any are saved. This is because as the apostle Paul says, God does not have to give mercy to anyone but He chooses to because He is a gracious God. There is no doubt that this is a hard teaching to grasp; this is seen in the fact that many wise and godly Christians have rejected it. Yet God's word is clear that from start to finish, salvation is a free and gracious gift from God. For if God had to give salvation to everyone, how would it be all of grace? As the Scripture teaches, God gives mercy to whom He wills to give mercy and He hardens whom He wills to harden. This truth is seen in the Lord Jesus's parable of the workers in the vineyard. Here it is seen that God is not obligated to give mercy to all, yet He chooses to give some in order that His name might glorified. What should be one's response to this teaching? This great doctrine should cause the Christian to forsake all hope in themselves and look to Jesus who alone can save. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29?v=20251111

The Christmas story takes on profound new meaning when we understand what the shepherds truly represented in first-century society. Far from the romanticized figures in our nativity scenes, shepherds were considered the lowest social class—dirty, untrustworthy, excluded from worship, and often viewed as thieves. Yet God chose them to receive the first announcement of the Messiah's birth. This deliberate choice reveals something stunning about the gospel: it's good news specifically for those who feel unworthy, marginalized, and far from God. The angels' proclamation of 'peace on earth' wasn't just poetic language—it was announcing the restoration of shalom, the complete wholeness and perfection that humanity lost in the Garden of Eden. This biblical peace isn't merely the absence of conflict or a feeling we manufacture through meditation apps and self-help strategies. It's the presence of something—or rather, Someone—who reconciles us to God, to others, to ourselves, and to our purpose. Jesus didn't just bring peace; He became our peace through His sacrifice on the cross. But here's the crucial point: this peace is available to all people, yet it's only received by those who choose to accept it. We can't earn it, manifest it, or create it ourselves. We can only receive it as a gift, and then become peacemakers who share it with a world desperately longing for what only Christ can provide.

The Christmas story in Luke 2 turns our expectations upside down in the most beautiful way. When we think about major announcements, we imagine grand stages, powerful platforms, and influential audiences. Yet God chose to reveal the most significant news in human history—the birth of our Savior—to shepherds working the night shift in a forgotten field. These weren't respected religious leaders or wealthy merchants; they were considered unclean, untrustworthy, and unvaluable by society's standards. But that's precisely the point. The setting perfectly matches the message: salvation comes not to those who deserve it, but to those who need it most. This is grace in its purest form—love that isn't earned by our merits but given freely based on God's character. When we feel overlooked, rejected, or unworthy, we need to remember that Jesus comes for us first. The gospel doesn't wait for us to clean ourselves up or achieve a certain status. It meets us in our mess, in our shame, in our brokenness. And here's the revolutionary truth: if God's love isn't based on our worthiness but on His unchanging nature, then we're truly secure. We become family, friends, children of God—not because we've performed well enough, but because He has set His affections on us. This Christmas, we're invited to receive this unmerited love and let it transform how we see ourselves and our relationship with God.

Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most celebrated musicians in history. Nearly two centuries after his death in 1827, his compositions are still among the most performed pieces. His talent has been widely heralded, and he’s often described as a virtuoso. A study of Beethoven’s DNA, however, indicates he may not have been born with some of his abilities—as we might assume. When his genes were compared to those of 14,500 other people who’d shown an ability to keep rhythm (merely one aspect of musical talent), Beethoven ranked surprisingly low. Beethoven also had ample opportunity and exposure to music (which developed the genetic aptitude he did have). Yet neither talent nor opportunity fully account for God’s role in endowing us with the abilities we have. Our Creator equipped two men, Bezalel and Oholiab, with specific skills to be used in building the tabernacle. God filled Bezalel “with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs” and appointed Oholiab “to help him” (Exodus 31:3-6). God gave “ability to all the skilled workers to make everything [He] commanded]” (v. 6). Few of us will work on projects as significant as God’s tabernacle. And our abilities may never be recorded in history’s annals. Yet God has equipped us with the skills, aptitudes, and experiences He wants us to share with the world. May we serve Him faithfully, in His strength and for His glory.