Claim OwnershipDestination Church Spokane Podcast
Subscribed: 2Played: 27
Subscribe
© 2024 Destination Church Spokane Podcast
Description
God loves people and so do we! At Destination Church Spokane, you've found a place to be loved, a place to believe, and a place to belong. We are here to love God, love people, to serve, and to share the good news of Jesus. We are committed to forming authentic relationships while learning more about our amazing God, allowing Him to change our lives.
452 Episodes
Reverse
Are we called to mature in Christ? Absolutely. Are we called to do it in our own strength and ability? No. God Himself is at work in us both to will and to work in us, helping us to outwork His purpose in the earth. We are a people who shine like stars, and God is committed to helping us shine brightly and effectively. Together, we can rejoice in the ways He is maturing each of us; we can celebrate one another's sacrifice, service, and faith exploits. All of life, even our hardship, is an opportunity to shine.
Who is this Jesus that we worship? Is He so full of His own reputation that He's hard to be around? Is He always focused only on His own advancement? Paul's description of the attitude of Jesus reflects something different altogether. Embracing humility, even unto death. And not just any death, but death on a cross. Because Jesus was secure in the Father, He didn't need to grasp for authority, and neither do we. We don't have to compete with one another, and that wouldn't reflect Jesus at all. We can have the same humble attitude that Jesus did, serving our Father and one another with complete trust that the Father will take excellent care of us. And then one day, we will ultimately join with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ together, across the globe and across generations, bowing our knees and exalting Jesus. His name is the name above every other name!
After Jesus rises from the dead, He reveals himself to many of His disciples. For whatever reason, Thomas is not present for these first encounters, and for a full week he is hearing the claims of Jesus' resurrection, but does not believe. Thankfully, Jesus includes skeptics like Thomas! He invites Thomas to look and to touch and to believe. Jesus is still helping and influencing our faith today, coming to us and revealing Himself in various ways. He often reveals himself through His Spirit working through others. He also reveals Himself through the Holy Spirit-inspired story of Scripture. Just as Jesus came intentionally to help a disciple like Thomas to believe, He also knows just how to reveal Himself to us.
In Philippians 2 Paul makes the statement, "If there is any encouragement in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship with the Spirit, or affection and mercy then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and one mind." The great thing about this is these things are true! In Christ we really do have everything we need, and this frees us to focus on others rather than ourselves.
Who are we? Are we living out of our true identity as citizens of heaven? Embracing that identity together helps us to reflect Christ and His kingdom as we take on the challenges of life. Together we can courageously stand firm in one spirit, united in the gospel, and contending for the good news of Jesus Christ. In Him, our lives become a far-reaching testimony to those around us through both faith and suffering. Our stories will strengthen the faith of others in the same way that the stories of Jesus, Paul, and others strengthen us.
The news of Christ truly is the best news in the world! It's something to get excited about. The gospel frees us and leads our hearts towards honoring Christ, into fruitful living, and stirs eagerness to know Him more. From this flows more eagerness to move forward together in Christ, trusting our good and sovereign God. There is so much to be joyful about in Him!
Difficult things happen: in Genesis we see Joseph being sold into slavery, and in Philippians Paul is writing as a prisoner for the gospel. In God's great plan, their hard circumstances served great purpose in furthering His salvation plan. Paul says in his letter, "I want you to know..." He wants us to know that the gospel is being advanced, and that we are partners in His great purpose. The more we understand this, the more we can rejoice and celebrate what God is going to accomplish.
Partnership is a beautiful thing! The partnership between Paul and the church in Philippi was a healthy one. Good partnership looks like generous care that fuels praise and thanksgiving. Genuine partnership in the Gospel will also fuel joy and devotion, and we'll find ourselves taking joy in one another as Jesus takes joy in His people. Finally, the growing love for one another that we find in healthy partnership fuels grace-filled fruitfulness in our lives. How can we cultivate this partnership? It begins with learning to give thanks.
Paul and Timothy are both apostolic men, but how does Paul address the church in Philippi? As a servant of Christ. The Philippians too will find their primary identity in Christ. All their other characteristics and titles in the world would flavor their distinct expressions of humanity, but Christ is the foundation. As the people of God, first and foremost, our identity is in Christ, rooted in the grace and peace of God. Together then, we can become one holy people, free to serve Jesus and one another.
In Acts 16 we find Paul trying to travel to the region of Bithynia but the Spirit of Jesus tells him no. Paul listens to the Spirit and is led instead to the Macedonian city of Philippi, where what we know as the Philippian church is founded. There he meets a woman named Lydia, and God opens her heart to the gospel. She is baptized and becomes an avenue of great blessing and hospitality to the church that begins meeting in her home. If we listen to God, He may change our plans, but His place and timing is perfect, and His work in us will be completed by Him. When God says yes, nothing can stop that! He wins.
In the final Chapter of Nehemiah, we find that though the people of Jerusalem may live in a different era and culture than us today, in some ways they're really not all that different from us. They can engage in a holy moment with God and then return to their old ways once the moment has passed. The too are tempted to neglect God and His ways. Just as the people of Jerusalem we too need a savior. The good news is that we have one! Jesus has done the work, "It is finished," and we are redeemed through Him, our greater Nehemiah. The culture Nehemiah worked so hard to establish, only Jesus is truly able to do, changing not just our outward culture and behaviors, but our hearts.
In Nehemiah 12 we find God's people planning a celebration together ofwhat God has accomplished. They are also creating a strategic community of worship on purpose. Intentionality in thanking and praising God included consecration that would set them up well for celebration. The extravagant, joyful, all-inclusive worship event was exciting - and took a lot of coordination - but this would be more than a one-time event. They were setting up a pattern of worship that could continue. While the event amplified their sound across the region, the stewardship they were planning would help shift the culture, not just make a lot of noise. The joy they found would become fuel for their stewardship, and our gratefulness in the gospel will fuel a culture of worship and stewardship in our day as well.
In Nehemiah 11 the leaders of God's people choose to stay in Jerusalem not because it was a nice city with clean neighborhoods or great amenities. It actually wasn't. They stayed because they believed in what God was building there, and their choice to stay was a choice to build. The rest of the people of God came together for a key shift that also needed to happen. A literal tithe of the people, 10 %, were chosen to relocate to the city, and others above and beyond that volunteered. Everyone had a role to play in building the Holy City. As the people of God today, there is a challenge for us to take up the call to partner in what God is building. It's not just leaders with official titles, not only a select few, but all of us. Let's take our place in building and becoming the City of God, the radiant church of Jesus Christ.
Building a culture that honors God and His Word takes time, but it's not an unrealistic, mysterious, or illusive dream. There are tangible shifts we can make in our lives, both individually and together as God's people, that help us align our real-life, day-to-day culture with God's word, character, and way of building. In Nehemiah 10, we see three specific shifts we are called to make as a people of faith: Giving faith precedence over our feelings, over our schedules and calendars, and over our finances. The declaration of God's people together, "We will not neglect the house of our God," is rightly heard as a challenge to us today, a call to renew our commitment to God's presence, God's people, and God's work through us.
Herod wants him dead, so Joseph and Mary must flee with Jesus to Egypt. After his birth and subsequent dedication at the temple in Jerusalem, the first story we hear of Jesus' early life is one of an outsider. God is working a wonderful plan that will lead Jesus back into Israel and into the town of Nazareth. God is still preserving people who are outside the "system," preparing them in places like "Egypt" and "Nazareth." Can anything good come out of a place like Nazareth? That's what one of Jesus' own disciples said later when he found out where Jesus was from. God is using places like Nazareth to welcome His plan and purpose.
The Christmas story - the real Christmas story - is anything but a quiet, sanitary event. It's full of sight, sound, raw emotions, and all the smells of a 1st Century sheep town. From shepherds working the night shift where all heaven is breaking loose in the fields, to the Lamb of God lying in a manger, heaven's glory is stepping into the very real grit and grime of humanity. God has never been afraid to enter into our mess to bring heaven to earth. Note: In this week's podcast, most of the Scriptures (Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20; Matthew 1:18-25) were read prior to the message as a part of the Christmas Eve service at Destination Church.
John's gospel introduces Jesus as the one and only Son of God, the unique glory of the Father. He's not just a son of God being born into the world, but the Son, and there is none like Him. Full of grace and truth, He is the embodiment of the Father's character, and the truth of God's covenant faithfulness is revealed and fulfilled in Christ. Through Jesus, we are able to know God as He really is.
When Jesus took on human form it took a while for people to recognize Him as being God, and many never actually did. Today, it's as true as it was then that we need help recognizing and receiving God! Our fallen world still doesn't recognize it's maker, but it's only in recognizing and receiving Jesus that we become children of God. Since this has eternal implications, it's important that we know what it means to receive Jesus. It means to accept Jesus as who He truly is, to put our trust in Him, His character, and His promise. John writes in his gospel, "The word became flesh and dwelled among us." The powerful Creator of the universe was born into the world in vulnerability, interacting face to face with His creation, and giving astonishing dignity to humanity by becoming one of us. As we celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, we also recognize that those who believe are made one with Him, and can now be an extension of His love and care for our world, helping others recognize Jesus through His new creation at work in and through us.
In John's Gospel he doesn't start the story with Jesus' birth, but takes us back even farther: "In the beginning was the Word..." We are introduced to Jesus as this powerful Word, eons before His incarnation and even before creation itself. Before the beginning of time, Jesus was already there. He was with God, and, mysterious as it may seem, He also actually was God. In Jesus, the True Light of the world, is life, and darkness is dispelled before Him. Jesus, the very Word of creation, is even now releasing the "new creation" of His eternal life in and through us. Through Him, now we too are shining the light of His good news into our world.
"Confession is good for the soul," as they saying goes. In Nehemiah Chapter 9 we find all the Jewish people gathering together for a third time in the same month to pray and read scripture. Their gathering is marked by an openness toward God, this time with fasting rather than feasting, and grieving with one another over the sins of their people. They separate themselves from the worshipers of other gods, and worship their One True God with great honor and reverence, devoting significant time to confession, worship, prayer, and praise. Even now, in light of the New Covenant, investing significant time to confess, worship, pray, and praise the Lord our God together as His people is a healthy part of life together in Christ. The prayers in the second half of this recording give just a taste of how we can apply these disciplines today in our own church community.
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States